Water and Fire
by Toxic Mist
Summary: There are only four elementals in all of the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule everything. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden...read to find out why. HieixOC REPOSTED and COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

**A/N: Well folks, upon popular demand, here it is again, Water and Fire: recovered after having been deleted by fan fiction for a SECOND time. So, because it's "not allowed" there will be no more authoress' notes or jokes in my stories. Sorry, blame …cough…nevermind.**

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT KIYA! Put those lawsuits away…

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**Chapter 1: The beginning:**

"OW! God damnit, Kiya!"

"Oh, shut up, Yusuke, it was only a pencil."

"A really SHARP ONE!"

"Im playing the world's smallest violin for you, Yusuke."

Yusuke Urameshi glared at the girl behind him. He had –unfortunately- known her for 2 years. She had dark blue hair down to her back, silver/light blue-ish eyes and had a mark like a water drop next to her right eye. She stood at an incredible (sarcastic) 4 foot 9 and she had a slender figure. She wore a black tank top with Stewie (from Family Guy..i don't own!) on it that slightly showed her mid-drift and she wore tattered, light blue jeans and black combat boots that went to her knees. Miscellaneous black and blue bracelets adorned her wrists.

She glared back.

"Ok…..you guys…..you can stop glaring at each other, now…..it's time for lunch." Said Kazuma Kuwabara, interrupting the silence. Kiya turned her glare to Kuwabara. She never had a problem with him, per say. She just never really liked him, but she had to put up with him, since he was always around Yusuke. Yusuke and Kuwabara were the only friends she had, for two very good reasons. One: everyone else –in Kiya's opinion- was either not worth her time, or she hated them (which was the case for most people) or Two: everyone steered clear from her. From her blue hair to silver eyes, people thought she was a freak….which was true….to an extent.

She knew she was not human. Kuwabara had established that a while ago. But neither her, Yusuke, or Kuwabara knew what she really was. All she knew was that she wasn't a yokai or a hanyou. Hell, she could be an alien for all she knew.

All three of them walked towards the lunch room, only to be stopped by a peeved looking tall man with short black hair. "Ms. Shikina! That paper you turned into me about the economy was plagiarized! You took it right off the internet! (Hehe, I did that once.)" Mr. Yuko yelled at Kiya, making almost every student in that hallway freeze and stare at her.

Kiya gave an over- exaggerated gasp and said innocently, "Why, Mr. Yuko, it hurts me that you would actually think I would do such a thing!" It was true, she did copy her entire 15 page report off the internet, but hey, not like he could kill her, right?

"Kiya, I've just about had it with you. Either you re-write your report by tomorrow or you are going to be suspended. I've already had a talk with the principal and he agrees. Tomorrow, Kiya." He repeated then walked off, leaving all 3 of them shocked.

First to recover was Kiya, "They wouldn't really. They've been emptily threatening me since the day I started coming to this hell hole." I hope this is an empty threat…..

They all walked to the lunch room, grabbed something to eat, and headed outside.

"Hey, Kiya, after school, Kuwabara and me (I know, bad grammar, but hey, that's yusuke……omg, it rhymed!) are going to go meet up with a friend of ours at his house, wanna come?"

"Sure, not like I have anything else to do." It was true. Kiya didn't have to be home too early….because she didn't have a home. She had been homeless since the day her mother and father disappeared, so she had been living in an old mall that had only one or two shops in it and was so run down, that no one felt the need to lock the doors at night. So yeah, she could be out whenever and where ever she wanted.

"Cool." He stated plainly then began the journey up the ladder on the side of the school to the roof, Kiya and Kuwabara shortly behind.

They reached the roof and sat against the wall, eating their lunch. Well, Kiya was eating her lunch. Yusuke and Kuwabara were more like inhaling theirs. Even after all the time she had known and eaten with the two, the sight never got less disturbing.

Kiya got up and walked over to the side of the building, looking over the side. Below her were students-lots of them, and she grinned evilly at the half eaten sandwich in her hand. She held her sandwich up over the ledge, then carelessly dropped it, walking back to Yusuke and Kuwabara after hearing a satisfying, "ACK!...WHAT THE…..!" from below.

(Skipped to the end of school, because school sucks and no one should have to go through the agony of reading about the boring perils of forced education)

Kiya, Yusuke and Kuwabara were all walking down the sidewalk towards Yuske's friend's house. Kiya had no idea who the hell he was, but frankly, she didn't care. It was Friday, thank god, and she was up for anything.

"Are we there yet?" whined Kiya as she lagged behind.

"No." stated the two boys at the same time.

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"Kiya, shut up."

"……..now?"

"KIYA,---ACK!" yelled Yusuke after feeling a weight suddenly jump onto his back, and he immediately swung his arms under Kiya's legs that were at his side to keep her from falling. Kiya put her arms around her neck and shouted, "Onward, steed!"

Yusuke sighed and trudged on, letting go of Kiya's leg for one moment to smack Kuwabara in the back of the head for laughing at him.

"Ow, Damnit, Urameshi!"

"We're here!" Yusuke stated suddenly, ending Kuwabara's anger.

Kiya jumped off of Yusuke's back and they all proceeded to the door.

Yusuke knocked on it. A tall boy with long red hair and shocking emerald green eyes answered the door. He smiled when seeing all of them, as if expecting all of them.

"Hello, Yusuke. Kuwabara," he looked at Kiya. "Kiya."

Whoa, how the hell did he know my name? she thought to herself as the boy stepped to the side, allowing all of them to enter.

"Hey Kur-….er..Suiichi."

"It's alright, Yusuke, you can call me Kurama, now. But, you and Kuwabara need to come with me for a moment." He turned his attentions to Kiya, "My mother is not home right now, so make yourself at home." He smiled sweetly and her, Yusuke and the idiot left.

Kiya wrinkled her brow in confusion, then sat on one of the couches decorating the living room, staring at one particularly interesting speck on the television. She would've turned it on, but she couldn't find the remote, and she was too lazy to get up to turn it on. So she just sat and stared.

…….Mean While, With the Boys………

"What the hell is going on, Kurama? How did you know her name? We didn't even tell you we were bringing her!" asked a confused Yusuke.

"I believe those are questions for Koenma to answer," just as he said that, a portal appeared in the middle of Kurama's bedroom, right in front of him. "Come on." Said Kurama as he stepped through, followed by Yusuke and Kuwabara.

They appeared on the other side in Koenma's office.

"Ok, I want answers, binky breath, and I want 'em now!" yelled Yusuke, going right up to the toddler's desk and pounding it with his fist.

"Alright, Yusuke, calm down. This girl that you brought, Kiya, she has a great deal to do with your next mission."

Yusuke: o.O

Kuwabara: O.o

Kurama: oo

Hiei: (who was also in the office) --

"WHAT! You had better explain yourself, Koenma!"

"OK! God- Kiya is not human, nor is she a demon. You all know of the elementals, right?"

Murmured 'yes's' could be heard throughout the room.

"Alright, well Kiya is one of them. And you all know of the prophecy that states that if all four elementals were to join together and combine their powers as one, the world would be under their control?"

Again, 'yes' sprouted in the room.

"And you know that because of this, many demon lords either want all of the elementals killed, or they want to control them, so that they can control everything……."

"GET TO THE POINT, TODDLER!" yelled a pissed Yusuke.

"YOU ALL HAVE TO GET KIYA TO UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE IS AND HELP HIDE HER FROM THE OTHER ELEMENTALS SO THAT THE PROPHECY WILL NEVER BECOME A REALITY!" Koenma yelled all with one breath.

Yusuke snapped his mouth shut.

Koenma inhaled deeply before starting again. "Kiya does not yet have her powers. She will receive them on her 16th birthday, which is coming up in..."

"Two days," finished Yusuke. Yusuke had planned on taking her out to a 16 & up club to celebrate. (no, he doesnt like her. She is like his little sister, so…yeah)

"Precisely."

"Koenma, you did not tell us which one of the elements she represents." Said Kurama.

Koenma opened his mouth to answer, but someone else did it for him.

"Water." Said a shadow sitting at the windowsill, looking out of the window to nothing in particular.

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin!


	2. Chapter 2

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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Previously:

"Koenma, you did not tell us which one of the elements she represents." Said Kurama.

Koenma opened his mouth to answer, but someone else did it for him.

"Water." Said a shadow sitting at the windowsill, looking out of the window to nothing in particular.

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**Chapter 2:**

WITH KIYA

Kiya sat on Kurama's couch, incredibly bored. The guys had been gone for half an hour! What could possibly be taking so long? They just went up to Kurama's room to get something, right?

(A/N ahahah, if only she knew……oops, sorry)

As if on cue; Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara and another guy walked in. The new guy was about Kiya's height with an all black ensemble except for a white scarf around his neck and white headband around his forehead. Her eyes trailed upwards, past his eyes…….Wait….those eyes. Kiya took a closer look and they were…..crimson?

_That's odd_

The other thing about him that was odd was his hair. It wasn't the black color, or the white starburst running through it, but the way that it almost seemed to really like heights. She swallowed her laugh.

"Hey, what took you guys so long? And who is that?" she asked as they all filled into chairs….except for the mysterious-guy-in-black. He sat on the windowsill, his face carrying no emotions. She guessed he was bored.

"My apologies, Kiya. We were talking about something. And this is Hiei." Said Kurama.

Kiya looked at the guy again, who just acted like he didn't hear anything and continued to stare at the window. _'ooookkk….'_

"You never did tell me how you knew my name." she remembered her question from earlier.

'_Hn, answer that one, fox.'_ Kurama heard the familiar monotone voice in his head.

'_Koenma will be here in a moment to explain everything. I'll wait till then to tell her.'_

Kiya's head thrashed to the side violently when she swore she heard two male voices talking in hushed tones. That caught Hiei's and Kurama's attention. Kurama looked like he was pondering something, and Hiei just looked……Hiei-ish.

Just then, Koenma appeared in the room in a puff of blue smoke and a loud _'POP'_

"HOLY HELL!" yelled Kiya as she jumped behind the couch.

Yusuke and Kuwabara screamed as well, a little higher- pitched than Kiya, "KOENMA DON'T DO THAT!" yelled Yusuke, clutching his chest.

Koenma (in his toddler form) ignored Yusuke for the time being and walked up to the couch that Kiya was currently peeking her head over..

"Hello, Kiya."

"…….Yusuke……The baby talked…..."

"I am not a baby! I am Koenma, prince of the Spirit World." He stood with his back straight and his arms behind his back.

Silence.

No more silence, "AAAHHHHH! DEMON CHILD!" ( I heard that in another fic, but I could NOT for the life of me remember which one, so whoever that line belongs to: I am so sorry for not asking you to use the line, and please don't sue me…)

Kurama winced. "Please, Kiya, just listen to what he has to say."

Kiya stopped screaming and looked at the red head. Something about his voice was just so calming. Before she even had a change to start yelling again, Koenma spoke. "Now that that's over, Kiya you might want to sit down."

Kiya rolled her eyes and jumped back onto the couch. She gave him a 'continue' look.

Koenma cleared his throat and began. (A/N You know as well as I do how long it would take to explain _everything _about Makai, Rekai and Ningenkai, hes already explained about Yusuke and Kuwabara and that Hiei and Kurama are demons, yadda yadda yadda, so I'm just going to skip to the part about the prophecy. He's already explained to her that she is the Elemental of Water and he's explained that there are three other elementals) "There's a prophecy concerning the four elementals that if all four of you should unite, they worlds would be at your feet. We must keep you hidden from the other elementals so that that does not happen." He finished, finally inhaling.

Kiya just stared at him. "…Wouldn't it be a good thing to rule……?.." Koenma didn't let her finish.

"Kami, no! All three world are at balance right now and to throw that off would mean the eventual fall of humanity as we know it! We must not let the other elementals find you!"

"And they're looking for me?"

"We do not know that yet. All we know is that the other three have united already."

"Alright, so what is it that you want me to do?"

"Well, I suppose it would be best if you stayed here in Ningenkai. Yusuke will be letting you stay in his apartment with him and his mother, until I can find you an apartment for yourself, seeing that you don't have any remaining family. If anything….happens, you will move in with an old friend of Yusuke's, named Genkai. Understand?"

"Yeah, but one more question."

"Yes?"

"I don't have to go to school anymore, right, since I'm hiding and all."

"Wrong. You still have to go to school. If the elementals are smart, like they are said to be, they will not try anything….illegal in a highly crowded place. I think the safest places you can be right now is with the Rekai Tantei and at school."

"Damn." She muttered.

"Well, with that, I believe I will bid you all farewell. I have a lot of work to do. Good Bye."

No one had time to say anything back because Koenma was gone with a slightly quieter, _'Pop'_

Kiya looked at everyone uncertainly. Her eyes fell upon Yusuke and a smirk crept onto her face. "So I guess you'll be having to put up with me for a while, huh Yusy."

Yusuke glared at her, "Don't call me that, kiddo."

Kiya glared even harder at him, "Then don't call me kiddo."

"Kiya, if you don't mind me interrupting, you seemed to take everything so well….i thought that was kind of odd." Said Kurama. Kiya looked at him.

"Yeah, well, when you spend two years hanging around with people as weird as Yusuke and the moron, you kinda get used to weird things. It's hard to explain, but everything Koenma told me, I felt like I already knew……" She left the sentence hanging.

"Well, that certainly made his job easier." He chuckled back.

Yusuke glanced at Hiei. Kiya followed his eyes and looked at Hiei as well. Kiya, not knowing any better, tried to talk to him. "Hey, you! On the window, You're Hiei, right?"

He didn't even look at her, just replied with an uninterested, "Hn."

Kiya leaned over to Yusuke, "Is that even a word?" she said, barely above a whisper.

"It is if you're Hiei." He whispered back.

Kiya nodded, then did the unthinkable. She walked over to Hiei, who glared at her out of the corner of his eye. She then ( A/N Drum roll, please)(oops, sorry, ill stop interrupting) stuck out her hand, and poked his shoulder. "Hey, can you………AGG!"

She would have finished her question, if it weren't for the fact that as soon as her finger made contact with Hiei's arm, she was being roughly thrown against the wall, a katana blade at her neck, Hiei inches from her face. Her feet weren't even touching the ground.

"Don't. Touch. Me. Onna." He said through gritted teeth.

"Hiei…put her down." Came the warning voice of Kurama behind Hiei.

Hiei gave her a death glare, before taking a step away from her and letting her fall to the ground. She landed on her knees, clutching her throat, thankful it was still intact.

"Hn. Despicable onna." He hissed before disappearing through the window.

Kurama helped Kiya to her feet.

"Is he always such an ass?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Although, it is a wonder he didn't harm you." Said Kurama as Kiya glared out the window.

"Gee, that's reassuring."

Yusuke was the first to break the silence. "How about we watch a movie."

"Hey, how come you get to decide what we do, Urameshi?"

"Because I'm smarter and better-looking than you are, therefore, it's my decision." He answered, running a hand through his greasy hair.

"WHAT?"

While Yusuke and Kuwabara continued squabbling at each other, Kurama and Kiya stated a conversation of their own.

"So you've had to put up with these two longer than I have, huh?" asked Kiya. Kurama chuckled.

"Yes, but no matter how annoying they may get, they are a great addition to team Urameshi, although Hiei would say otherwise."

"Yeah, it seems like he doesn't much….appreciate social……-ness." _Nice choice of words, retard._ She scolded herself.

"Yes, but that's just Hiei." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh, my. My mother will be getting home soon. You all should leave."

"I thought you were a demon? And old. You're mom is still alive?"

He chuckled again, "No, she is the mother of my human form, Suichi."

Kiya understood. "Okay, well I guess ill drag these two out of your house. It was nice to meet you, Kurama."

"It was very nice to meet you as well, Kiya. Have a good evening."

"You too, bye." She called, already having Yusuke and Kuwabara by their ears and being halfway to the door.

Kurama smiled to himself as he closed the door politely after they had gotten outside.

"Ow! Jesus, Kiya, do you have to pull so hard? It'd be kinda nice if I could keep my ear for a couple more years!" whined Kuwabara. Kiya groaned in annoyance and let go of both of their ears, making Kuwabara crash to the ground. Yusuke laughed at him while rubbing his own ear.

"Alright, Kiya and I should get to my house before Atsuko gets home. (A/N I'm pretty sure that's his mom's name)"

"Yeah, you should head back before Shizuru has a cow." Kiya added to Kuwabara.

"Wait……my sister cant have a cow……wouldn't she…..die…?"

Kiya rolled her eyes and smacked him on the back of the head.

"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"

"For being a moron."

Yusuke pulled Kiya away before she could REALLY piss Kuwabara off.

Kuwabara groaned, then stomped off to his house.

While walking back to Yusuke's home, it was silent. Yusuke figured that Kiya was probably thinking about what had just happened and what she had been told, so he stayed quiet.

When they reached Yusuke's apartment, they walked in and Kiya heard a sigh coming from Yusuke. She closed the door behind her and looked at what Yusuke sighed about. Atsuko. She was sprawled on the couch, you know, head off the side, leg hanging over the other side, arms in unimaginable positions. Yep, she was passed out…..again. Kiya had been here enough to know how much Yusuke's mother drank. And how much Yusuke hated it.

He groaned.

"You can sleep here." He pointed to the love seat that was against the wall next to the couch that Yusuke's mom currently occupied.

Kiya nodded and took the blanket from the back of the couch and laid it over her as she laid down.

"G'night, Yusuke."

"Night, Kiya."

With that, the light in the living room shut off and Yusuke disappeared into his room.

Darkness enveloped the small apartment.

But Kiya couldn't sleep. No matter how much she had tried to look like she understood everything that she was told, she still had a hard time _grasping_ the whole concept.

Demons, elementals, spiritual energy, three worlds, domination of those three worlds……jesus Christ (A/N sorry) I mean, really. There was no way this girl was going to get to sleep any time soon.

So Kiya just lay there, trying to process everything while starting to count the spots on the ceiling. It wasn't until hours later, that her eyelids began to drop. She wasn't even aware that she fell asleep. (A/N that can happen)

---------------------------------

_**Dream:**_

_**Kiya sat in silence at the sight before her. It was like watching a movie.**_

_**Three people were sitting at a large, round, marble table, their words filled with anger and urgency.**_

"_**That foolish spirit prince thinks he can hide her from us? Ha!" said a girl at one end of the table. She looked to be about 34, with green hair to her shoulders and brown eyes.**_

"_**They're going to have to try harder if they want to keep her from my all seeing staff!" exclaimed a man from another end. He looked to be about 25, with long white hair and silver eyes. He waved a silver staff proudly in the air. It had what looked like an eye on the end of it.**_

"**_She will be ours…when the time is right. For now, we will let them all think she is safe. When her 16th birthday comes around, her powers will make themselves known, and she will not be able to fight the urge to return to us for long." Said the last person. He was a boy, looking to be about 17 with red spiked hair, two longer strands hanging in his face. _**

_**They all wore black cloaks with silver signs on the back of it. For the woman with green hair, the sign on her back was an oval, with two lines crossing through it like an 'X' and a spiral around it all. It meant Earth.**_

_**The man with the white hair had a sign with a crooked line down the middle with two other wavy lined encircling it. It meant Wind.**_

_**The last guy had a sign like a wavy flame on his back, with two dots above the flame and one line encircling it. It meant Fire.**_

_**They all laughed menacingly and the boy with red hair turned towards Kiya suddenly. The other two were oblivious to his actions. He stared Kiya right in the eyes, making her shudder.**_

"**_You will be mine, Kiya. Together, we will rule everything!"_**

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Kiya woke with a start.

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	3. Chapter 3

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-------------------------------

Previously:

Kiya woke with a start.

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**Chapter 3:**

Kiya never got back to sleep. Every time she would close her eyes, that red headed boy (no, not Kurama) would be there. It freaked her out that he knew her name. So, she just lay there, with her head face pushed into the couch, she tuned everything out. That's probably why she didn't even hear it when someone left the house early that morning.

When the clock in the living room finally read 7:00, Kiya pushed herself off the couch and went looked for something in the kitchen.

She found it. She found a pen to write with and paper to write on. On the paper, she wrote,

**Yusuke,**

**I need some money, so im going to go to my 'uncle's' restaurant and work there for today.**

**Be back by 9:00 pm**

**Be good.**

…**Ha, yeah right.**

**-Kiya**

Kiya left the paper on the counter, and went back to the couch when she saw a shirt on the arm.

It was a small black t-shirt with the words, 'Back off!' on it. There was a paper on it and it read,

Thought you'd need a shirt.

It was the only small shirt I could find.

See you at about 9:00 pm, I've got something I need to do.

Ttyl, lil sis.

-Yusuke

Kiya smiled to herself while she took off her old tank top and replaced it with the shirt Yusuke had given her.

Why couldn't he always be as quiet as he was this morning? She didn't even hear him leave. She shrugged at the thought, then walked out the door.

Walking through the forest was the fastest way to get to her 'uncle's' restaurant.

He wasn't her 'blood uncle,' but he used to come to the mall she used to live in all the time and he was always very nice to her. He even went as far as to offer her a place to stay in his home, but she declined. It was a small studio apartment and she didn't want to be a burden. He accepted her "no." but did tell her she could come work at his restaurant whenever she wanted and keep all the tips she made. The last time she worked there, she made 600 yen. Apparently, she was quite popular among the male customers.

She walked for about 20 minutes, walking through the beautiful forest that was shinning with dew from the morning rain shower. She gazed happily up at the sky, willing it to rain again. She loved the rain. C'mon, rain. Please? Make this day tolerable.

It started to rain. She shook her head, ridding it of the thoughts of the rain being something other than coincidental.

She raised her head, and opened her mouth, swallowing the raindrops that landed in her mouth with joy. She walked out of the forest like that, head up, mouth wiidddee open.

Man, it would suck if some birds were flying overhead.

Remembering what happened with her thoughts and the rain, she quickly closed her mouth.

She saw the familiar blue 2-story building infront of her. The top floor, was her unlce's, Rob's, apartment, and the bottom floor was the restaurant. She walked through the door, and immediately shouted, "POLICE! HANDS IN THE AIR NOW, AND NO ONE WILL GET HURT!"

What made her laugh, is that some people actually put their hands in the air. Quite quickly, too. When they realized it was a joke, they scowled, then returned to what they were doing.

"Kiya! I was wondering when you'd come back." Said a tall, muscular man who looked to be about 35 with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. He had on his usual orange, round rimmed glasses that made him look like a hippie.

She ran up to him and trapped him in a hug. "Yeah, well, I had to come back to make sure you hadn't turned my favorite place into a strip bar."

"Now that's an idea."

"Rob…." She said warningly.

He laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I wouldn't dare change your favorite place in the whole wide world into a place where horny men could…….well, lets not get into that. I suppose you came here for something other than to check up on the place."

"Yeah, you don't suppose I could work here for today, you know, earn some cash."

"Be my guest, Kiya. You're always welcome here."

She smiled as he walked back into the kitchen.

He had no idea how much those 4 words meant to her. She put on her favorite black half apron that she tied around her waist and began to serve the 6 tables in the corner.

--------WITH THE YYH GANG---------

"OGRE!"

"Y-yes, lord Koenma..?"

"Send the boys in. I need to talk with them."

The ogre, George, bowed, then ran into the hall to find the YYH gang. He found them right outside the door, looking bored. Yusuke was sitting on the floor against the wall, Kuwabara was just standing in the middle of the hallway. Kurama was standing politely by the door and Hiei was a little further away from everyone, leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest.

"L-lord Koenma wishes to speak with you."

"'Bout time!" said Yusuke as they all shuffled reluctantly into the office.

Koenma sat flushed at his desk, staring at a black VHS tape sitting on his desk in front of him.

"What now?" whined Yusuke.

"Yeah, you interrupted a moment with my love, yuk----" he shut up because of the crimson death glare that was being shot at him.

"I received this tape this morning." Koenma slid the tape across his desk to Yusuke. He picked it up and read the label on it out loud. "It's from an anonymous sender. We couldn't track it's origins."

"To Kiya, for her special 16th birthday." He glanced up at Koenma with a raised eyebrow. "Okay….shouldn't we give it to her?"

"Yes. But, I want it to be watched in my office. One of you will go get her so that we can watch it."

Koenma glanced around the room and his gaze landed on the small black-clad boy leaning against the wall in the corner of the office.

"Hiei, you will go, no doubt you will get her here faster than the others could."

Hiei glared at Koenma for making him do such a menial task. He growled. A portal appeared in front of him and Hiei disappeared in a black blur into the portal.

Kurama smirked, unknown to the others. Kurama knew that Koenma was in for it when Hiei returned.

---------WITH KIYA---------

"Oh, wow, arigato." Kiya said with a bow to the 30 some odd old man at the table she just waited at. The man had slipped her 200 yen for a tip, with a suggestive wink. She rolled her eyes at him, then left for another table before he decided to take the money back.

"Hello, my name's Kiya and I will be your waitress for this evening. What can I get for ya?" She said to the table of 20 year-old-looking guys that had recently fought another group of guys for this table. Kiya glanced around quickly, seeing that her corner of the restaurant was the most crowded, tables basically overflowing…..all with male occupants.

"I'll take a sex on the beach and to eat, I think I'll have a big plate of…." He glanced at Kiya's name tag that she had put on after the 3rd guy that had called her, 'babe.' "Kiya."

Kiya rolled her eyes and said, "Not in your life-time pal------" her thoughts were interrupted by a certain gothic looking youkai entering the restaurant. "One moment, I'll be back with you in a sec." she said to the table, not taking her eyes off of Hiei, who had now seen her and was standing against the wall, clearly waiting for her to walk over to him.

"Alright, sexy. Hurry back now, ya hear?" The guy and his friends all laughed, and Kiya heard high-fives being exchanged. If it weren't for the fact that Kiya had her mind set on getting across the crowded restaurant to Hiei, she would've shown him a thing or two about kicking people's asses.

She walked to Hiei who had a stoic look on his face. He was staring at the table she had just come from, a tiny look of distain in his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Hn." Is all he said before roughly grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards the door.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL!" she yelled at him, trying, but failing, to pull her arm back.

Hiei turned and glared at her. "You are coming with me, baka, whether you like it or not." He stated plainly, then continuing to walk towards the door. Kiya tried to pull back, but Hiei's grip was un-humanly strong.

Well, duh. He's a youkai.

"Hiei, what in the world are you doing? I cant leave! LET ME G…….AHH!" Hiei turned suddenly, rage in his eyes. He yanked up Kiya by her waist over his shoulder and continued walking. Kiya pounded on his back.

"HIEI, PUT ME DOWN YOU CRAZY BAS…….." (A/N jesus, she just isn't able to finish her sentences today!) The rest of the word was caught in her throat as Hiei started to run…..fast, back to the portal to Rekai. Kiya watched in awe as the landscape flew past her too fast for her to see more then a blur of colors. Her long blue hair whipped around wildly, actually hitting Hiei in the face. Kiya got uncomfortable as she heard a low growl being emitted from Hiei.

That damn toddler was gonna pay for what he was making Hiei do.

When he reached the portal, he came to a dead stop. Kiya would've flown off his shoulder, if it weren't for the strong arm around her legs, keeping her up there.

He walked through the portal into Koenma's office. When he was on the other side, he dropped Kiya un-gracefully onto the ground. She landed on her rear with a 'thud'.

"Ow, damnit!" She looked up around her at the office she was in, and her gaze suddenly shifted to the toddler sitting in the large chair behind the even larger desk. "WHY DO YOU KEEP POPPING INTO MY LIFE!" she yelled at him, standing up.

Koenma jumped at her loud voice, but recovered quickly. He didn't need to say anything, because as soon as she….fell…..into the office, the tape had been started.

"Hello, Kiya, dear."

Her head turned quickly to where the familiar voice was coming from. Her eyes landed on a large T.V. screen coming from the ceiling. On it were two people. One beautiful woman with long blue hair and even bluer eyes, pale skin and a tall tan man, also with blue hair, tied back in a low ponytail and with silver eyes.

They were oddly familiar.

"If you're watching this, that means that in one day, you will be 16. Congratulations, and happy birthday. darling." Everyone's eyes were glued to the T.V.

"…But, it also means, that we are no longer alive to tell you happy birthday in person. In case you have forgotten us, which you probably have, my name is Lykia. And this is Sanku. Kiya, we are your parents."

Kiya in took a sharp breath. That's how she knew them! They were from the picture that was among the small box of belongings she had taken from her home when she was a child. That same picture, coincidentally, resided in her front, right, jeans pocket. Her hand flew to the pocket, pulled it out, and she looked at it.

The people on the picture were the exact same people that were on the screen. Her hand dropped, causing the picture to drop un-knowingly to the ground. She was paralyzed.

"Hopefully Koenma has told you who and what you truly are." Now Sanku, her father, was talking. "Kiya, all your mother and I can say, is that we are sorry. We are sorry that we left you. We are sorry that we are not with you in your up-most time of need. But, most importantly, we are sorry because of the burden you now carry. Being what you are is a blessing, child…as much as it is a curse. Such responsibility should not be placed on someone so young, it is unfair."

Kiya was unaware of the tear that had fallen from her eye, and of the pair of crimson eyes that trailed that tear as it fell to the floor.

"Being the elemental of water is an incredible responsibility, also, it is the result of two full-blooded water demons mating. Although, your mother and I did not know that before hand. Kiya, you are incredibly important. Not only to us, but others as well. It pains me to say that as of tomorrow, you are no longer safe. Tomorrow, you will receive the powers of a water elemental, you will also receive the responsibility of an elemental."

Her mother took over once again.

"You are the one, Kiya. The one that could determine the fate of the three worlds. Please be wise, my sweet." On the screen, Kiya saw her mother's eyes begin to glaze with tears, but she continued anyway. "My biggest regret, is not being able to protect you, darling. Protect you from the perils you will encounter as your life goes on, as a mother should be able to do. You, my darling, are the best thing that ever happened to your father and I, and no matter how horrible a turn your life may take, just remember two things. You father and I will always be with you…." She paused and hung her head in disappointment. Kiya's father put a comforting arm around Lykia, and she in return, brought Sanku into a hug, sobbing into his chest. While having her face buried in her husband's chest, Lykia said something, but it was inaudible.

"Koenma, rewind it…" demanded Kiya quietly, her eyes still fixed on the screen as it went black.

Koenma obeyed and hit a button, causing the button to rewind. Kiya ran up to the screen in an attempt to hear better. Koenma hit play, and Kiya gasped at what she heard.

"And we are sorry that we will be leaving you soon. We will not live much longer."

Kiya stumbled away from the T.V.

They knew they were going to die?

Koenma made the screen retract into the ceiling.

The room was silent. Apparently, everyone else had heard what Lykia said as well.

Kiya's eyes were wide in shock, confusion, and hurt. Her parents knew they were going to die? But how? Why? There were so many things going through her head right now, that she did the only thing she was capable of doing. She fell onto her knees, and let just one more tear fall from her eyes, landing on the ground with a tiny splash. Kiya hung her head in sorrow. She knew for a fact her parents were murdered. She didn't know how, she just knew.

Koenma softly broke the silence. "Kiya," he began softly while getting out of his chair and walking over to her, something in his hand. "Here, this came with the video."

Kiya glanced up at his hand to see him holding a silver chain. On the chain, was a dark opal, her birthstone (October) in the shape of a tear drop. She carefully took the beautiful necklace out of Koenma's small hand and placed it around her neck.

Kiya sniffled, then got to her feet. She looked at everyone.

Yusuke and Kuwabara had their head hung in sympathy for the girl. Kurama looked shocked at what this young girl had just learned. When he realized she was looking at him, he looked up quickly, those stunning green eyes filled with sorrow. He smiled a faint, reassuring smile at her, and her spirits were risen a tiny bit.

Then she looked at Hiei, who was residing in the dark corner of the room. Crimson eyes staring right into her silver ones. His emotionless gaze caught her teary one.

She should not have to go through what she was going through. She is much too young.

As soon as the first person moved, she lunged at them, digging her head into his chest, keeping the tears in. That person happened to be Yusuke, who was shocked momentarily, then returned the hug, like a big brother should.

Just then, Yusuke felt Kiya starting to shake…violently. He let go of her, and her shocked eyes looked up into his, as she started shaking more violently. He was shocked. Was she having a seizure?

As soon as Yusuke's hands left her back, Kiya fell back to the floor, still shaking.

"Kiya! What is happening to her?" yelled Yusuke.

Koenma was frantic. 'I-I don't know! ORGE!"

Hiei realized something. He quickly got off the wall, and pushed past Kuwabara, who was blocking his path to Kiya.

"Wha…….WATCH IT SHORTY!" Kuwabara yelled.

Hiei glared at him before kneeling at Kiya's side.

If it were possible, Kiya began to shake more, her blank silver eyes staring at nothing.

If Hiei was going to do something, he was going to have to do it quickly. He began to untie the bandana around his forehead.

"What are you doing, Hiei?" Demanded Koenma. He was about to go over to him, but Kurama held him by the shoulder.

"Do not interfere. Hiei knows what he is doing."

Koenma looked at Hiei uncertainly, but then nodded. Kurama's gaze returned to Hiei, who was leaning over Kiya, his bandaged arm suspended over her head.

Hiei took one more look into Kiya's empty eyes, then closed his own, willing his Jagan to open. He quickly touched her cold forehead with his fingertips, immediately sending him into her mind.

What he saw shocked him to no extent.

-----------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	4. Chapter 4

Water and Fire 

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue

-------------------------------

Previously:

If Hiei was going to do something, he was going to have to do it quickly. He began to untie the bandana around his forehead.

"What are you doing, Hiei?" Demanded Koenma. He was about to go over to him, but Kurama held him by the shoulder.

"Do not interfere. Hiei knows what he is doing."

Koenma looked at Hiei uncertainly, but then nodded. Kurama's gaze returned to Hiei, who was leaning over Kiya, his bandaged arm suspended over her head.

Hiei took one more look into Kiya's empty eyes, then closed his own, willing his Jagan to open. He quickly touched her cold forehead with his fingertips, immediately sending him into her mind.

What he saw shocked him to no extent.

----------------------------------

**Chapter 4: "Happy" Birthday**

**_When Hiei entered Kiya's mind, he did not expect to see what he did._**

_**Nothing.**_

**_That's right, as soon as Hiei's Jagan allowed him to see into Kiya's mind, he was met by blue lights. He looked around. For as far as he could see, there was a flat plain, all submerged in a dark blue light. His attentions were soon averted to the figure sitting on her knees, her head dropped, long Blue hair flowing over her, almost touching the ground. Her hands were at her side, palms on the ground next to her._**

**_Suddenly, Kiya's head shot up, her still blank silver eyes staring right ahead at a scene playing ahead of her._**

_**Hiei turned his emotionless, crimson gaze to where her dead gaze rested. Right before his eyes, the scenery changed. He was now in a park, accompanied by a young girl who was oblivious to Hiei's presence. **_

**_On her back, there was a small purple back pack. She looked to be about 3 years of age. Her short blue hair pulled into two pigtails on each side of her head. In her hand, was a sippy cup full of a white liquid._**

_**Hiei recognized it as the ningen drink called, 'milk.'**_

_**The girl walked across the sidewalk, stumbling now and then because of her little legs, but Hiei made no move to catch her if she fell.**_

_**The little girl continued down the street until she reached a pretty good-sized house and she walked up to the door. She had to stand on her tip-toes to reach the door knob. She opened it. For a 3 year old, she was pretty capable of doing things on her own. When she walked into the house, Hiei followed, still needing to know more about what was causing Kiya's seizure. **_

**_The little girl walked into the hallway, saying, "Momma, Daddy, More milk." She said, waving the now empty sippy cup in her hand._**

**_She walked into another room, Hiei guessed was the living room, because there was a couch against the wall and a TV against the other wall Crimson colored everything._**

_**Wait…..crimson?**_

**_Yes, there was a crimson liquid splattered on the walls, it covered the once-white carpet The little Kiya stumbled across the room, slipping on the blood._**

"_**M-momma?"**_

_**Hiei was then thrown out of that memory, and quickly pulled into another one. This next one was a vision, he could tell, because the aura of the scenery in front of him was different than the last one. **_

_**The real Kiya was now standing, looking around. They were in the same house Hiei was in not too long ago, except for two things.**_

_**There was no blood, and there were two people sitting on the couch, watching the TV.**_

**_They were the two people from the video. Kiya's parents. Lykia was snuggled under one of Sanku's strong arms._**

_**Hiei looked at Kiya, who looked confused. He could tell that this was the first time she was seeing this.**_

'_**CRASH!'**_

_**Kiya spun around and Hiei looked over his shoulder. Shattered pieces of a window now lay on the ground, and two demons stand among the glass.**_

_**The demons, after seeing Sanku and Lykia, laugh menacingly run over to them and Lykia screams.**_

"**_MOM!" Yelled Kiya, trying to go to her parents, but being held back by an invisible wall. Hiei just stood there, watching the scene play in front of him._**

_**The demons each took out a two long blades and started slicing the two figures that were trapped on the couch.**_

"_**NO!" Kiya screamed, banging her fists on the invisible wall.**_

_**Blood began to fly across the room, the demons, thankfully, blocking Kiya's view of her now mauled parents. **_

**_A severed hand suddenly fell from the couch, covered in blood. Kiya suddenly felt nauseated._**

_**She fell to the floor, on her hands and knees, her body jolting. She couldn't finish watching the murder of her beloved parents.**_

_**She looked up. And that's when she finally saw Hiei.**_

"_**H-hiei?"**_

_**Hiei just looked at her, his stoic gaze meeting her confused, hurt and angered one. **_

"_**What are you doing here?"**_

**_Hiei didn't answer, instead looked back at the two demons, who were now picking up the bloody mess they made and stuffed the severed remains into bags._**

**_A new form then slipped into the scene. He was wearing a long black cloak, with a silver marking on the back. His back was to Kiya and Hiei, but over the raised collar of the cloak, was a very visible head of spiky red hair._**

_**Kiya's eyes shot open.**_

**_The cloaked figure turned around to look at Kiya, who he could obviously see. His piercing yellow eyes looking amusedly at her, almost like he was mocking her. Almost like he enjoyed what was happening. _**

_**It was him! The fire elemental from her nightmare!**_

_**He opened his mouth….and laughed.**_

_**Oh, god. It was a menacing laugh. Smooth and velvet, yet deep and cold.**_

**_Then, everything went black, and Hiei was thrown back so hard, he got thrown back out of Kiya's mind._**

---------------------------

Everyone in Koenma's office was taken by surprise when suddenly, Hiei flew back away from Kiya and into a nearby wall, making a small hole. He landed on his hands and knees, but got up quickly, growling.

"Hiei, what happened?" asked Kurama.

Hiei growled even louder while walking over to the now awake Kiya, his hands balled into fists. Kurama saw the menacing look in Hiei's eyes, and quickly got up to stand in between Hiei, and Kiya.

"What happened, Hiei?" he repeated.

'_She threw me out of her mind._' He hissed telepathically to Kurama, now looking past him at Kiya, who was standing up with the help of Yusuke and Kuwabara, holding her head.

"Yeah, that's only because you didn't belong in there in the first place." Kiya argued.

Hiei stopped dead in his tracks, and Kurama's eyes widened.

"You could hear that, Kiya?" asked Kurama.

"Duh, I'm not deaf."

Kurama glanced at Hiei, who was staring emotionlessly at Kiya.

"Hear what?" asked Kuwabara stupidly.

Everything was silent for a moment, then Kurama spoke. "Nothing, Kuwabara."

Koenma shot a look at Kurama, and Kurama nodded. Koenma then looked at Kiya, his eyes wide.

"Kiya, you wouldn't happen to have a Jagan, would you?"

"What he hell's a Jagid?"

"It's pronounced Jagan, and never mind." Koenma looked over to Kurama and shrugged his shoulders.

Kiya saw this interaction between the two, and said, "This is all too much. Listen, I need some sleep, so I'm going to leave." She walked over to the door, then stopped.

"……how do I get outta here?" she asked.

Koenma summoned a portal and Kiya was already on the other side when she yelled, "You've got the key Yusuke!"

Yusuke groaned and whispered to Kurama, "Im setting up a surprise party for Kiya at a club called Flare tomorrow, tell everyone and be there by 9 o'clock, okay?"

Kurama nodded and Yusuke disappeared into the portal, followed by Kuwabara, who also believed it was time to call it a night.

Kurama told Koenma about the party, then he and Hiei left the toddler's office, ready to go to his house.

-----------------------------

When Kiya and Yusuke got to the Urameshi household, they were met by a very wasted Atsuko.

"BABY! There you are…..(hiccup)" The swaying woman looked at Kiya. "What's she doin herrrreee?"

"She's spending the night, mom."

"Ooooookay, but don't go getting people pregnant, Yuzeeekay."

"MOM!"

Yusuke and Kiya quickly hurried into his room, trying to avoid Atsuko and her beyond wrong comments.

When they were within the safe confinements of Yusuke's room, he closed the door.

"Jeez, is your mom always this perverted when she's drunk?"

"Shut up, Kiya." Said Yusuke, tossing her a pillow and blanket. Kiya found a place to sleep right under the window. She laid down, placed the pillow beneath her head, and covered herself with the large cotton blanket that Yusuke had given her.

"Night."

"Night…..and Yusuke?"

"Yeah?'

"Thanks for the shirt."

----------------------------------------

**Part 2: October 3**

"Hey, loser! Get up!"

A pillow made contact with Kiya's sleeping head.

"What the…….YUSUKE!"

"Uh……heh………good morning?"

"Ugh, What time is it?" Asked Kiya, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Noon."

"Oh, ok."

"Guess what."

"What?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Thanks, Yusuke."

"Hey, get up, I gotta show you something."

Kiya stood, and followed Yusuke as he walked out of his apartment.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see" a knowing grin appeared on his face. Yusuke went right across the hallway, stopping in front of the neighboring apartment's door.

"We're going to see your neighbor?"

"Sorta."

Yusuke opened the door to the apartment and stepped inside. The apartment was dark, the drapes were obviously drawn. Yusuke closed the door behind Kiya.

"Uh, Yusuke, why are we in your neighbor's apartment?"

Silence.

"Yusuke?"

"SURPRISEEEEE!" The lights flashed on and Kiya saw Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, Rob and Kurama standing in the living room.

"Oh, my god. You guys are so cool!" Kiya hadn't had celebrated a birthday like this in….forever.

She walked over to Keiko and gave her a big hug. Keiko had been like Kiya's sister, always keeping her in line at school. She was one of the coolest people in the world to Kiya, even though they hardly ever hung out.

"Happy Birthday, Kiya."

"Thanks." She looked at Rob and jumped to him, hugging him as well.

"Happy Birthday, kiddo." He laughed as Kiya shot him a glare. She _hated_ being called that, but she figured she'd let it slip because she was in a pretty good mood.

She looked to Kuwabara who was smiling stupidly. "And you, you big oaf! I didn't think you'd remember."

"Of course I did!" he stated proudly, crossing his arms, his nose in the air.

"No you didn't! I had to call you twice today to remind you that it was her birthday!" Yelled Yusuke, making everyone get a sweatdrop.

Kiya's gaze caught Kurama. She walked over to him.

"Hey, Kurama, what are you doing here?"

"Yusuke told me it was your birthday, so I wanted to come. I hope you don't mind."

Kiya smiled wide. "Of course not!"

Kurama smiled back.

Then, Kiya finally remembered about the whole fact that this was Yusuke's neighbors apartment. "Uh, Yusuke, where are your neighbors."

"They're right here!"

"What?"

"It's, uh, sort of a birthday present from Koenma."

"What do you mean?"

"This is your new apartment!"

Kiya stood there shocked. Everyone waited for her response.

"……are you serious?"

"Yup. It's all yours."

"Oh. My. God! I love it!"

Kiya looked around. There was a pretty good-sized TV in the living room, across from a black, leather couch.

"Cable?"

"Yup."

She didn't need to say anything, her look said it all. This was more than she could ask for. For the first time in 13 years, she finally had a home. After all that had happened recently, finding out she was an elemental, learning that she was being pursued by demons and elementals alike, to learn and see how her parents died and to have a certain fire apparition also know how her parents died, the thing she needed most right now was a place of her own.

"Tell Koenma I said thank you sooo much."

"I don't need to tell him, we're gonna see him later anyways."

"Huh?"

"Hey, Kiya," interrupted Keiko, saving Yusuke from having to reveal the other surprise of the day. "For my birthday present, I've decided it would be best to take you clothes shopping!"

"Uh, Keiko, I'm not much of a mall fan."

"Oh, nonsense. Come on." Keiko grabbed her wrist, dragging her out of her new apartment.

Kurama chuckled after they were out the door.

"Are they meeting up with Botan?"

"Yup, Yukina too." Answered Yusuke, looking at Kurama.

"Who?" asked Rob, not knowing what the hell was going on.

------------WITH THE GIRLS---------------

Keiko managed to drag Kiya to the mall, but after much complaining on the elemental's part.

"Keiko! Hi!' said a tall, cheery girl with blue hair up in a ponytail as Keiko and Kiya stepped into the mall. Kiya saw that the girl was wearing a pink t-shirt and shorts.

"Hey Botan." Keiko looked at the girl at Botan's side that was a little shorter than Kiya. "Hey Yukina."

"Hello, Keiko-chan."

"You guys, this is Kiya, Kiya, this is Botan and Yukina."

Kiya smiled uncertainly at the cheery, blue-haired girl and she looked at the shorter girl with turquoise hair and a blue kimono. Her eyes were a deep shade of crimson.

_That's odd, I swear I've seen eyes like those somewhere…._ Kiya shrugged off the thought, then followed as Keiko and Botan led the way to a store they planned on going into.

Kiya looked up at the store and a muttered, "No way in hell im going in there."

Keiko frowned at her then looked back into 'The Gap.'

"Why not?"

Kiya just scoffed at her and turned around, looking at the other store across the hallway.

She walked into it.

Keiko looked up at the sign of the store, it read, 'Hot Topic.'

She sighed, and summoned Yukina and Botan to follow her.

Kiya's eyes scanned everything in the store and she immediately began pulling clothes off the racks, stopping just long enough to admire a Family Guy hoodie, before grabbing it as well.

Botan, however, was not enjoying her time as much as Kiya. She even 'eep'ed when the store's clerk looked at her. Botan huddled up to Keiko and whispered, "Keiko, this place creeps me out."

Keiko just laughed.

When Kiya was done buying what she needed, and done feeling bad because Keiko had spent money on her, they all walked back to the gap, and Keiko, Botan and Yukina disappeared inside of it. Kiya, however, stayed outside, holding up her fingers in the form of a cross and yelling, "AH! EVIL!"

You can imagine how many weird looks she'd gotten after that, so she quit and sit on the ground, surrounded by her 3 bags of clothing, glaring at the evil store.

Finally, Keiko, Botan and Yukina came out of the store, each carrying 5 or 6 bags in their hands. Kiya glanced at the clock to see that it was 8:00 pm. They had been there for 8 HOURS!

Kiya got up, her legs sore from sitting down for too long, and she said, "We ready to go, guys? It's already 8:00."

"It's already 8:00?" yelled Keiko. She and Botan exchanged worried glances and suddenly grabbed Kiya's arm and started running out of the mall.

Kiya turned to Yukina who was running beside her and asked, "Do you know what's going on?"

"I do not, Kiya-chan."

Keiko pushed them all into her small car and drove off to Yusuke's house. (A/N In my fic, Keiko's 16 and she has a car, okay?)

------------------------

Kiya was very confused. She knew something was up, but didn't know what.

Keiko drove to Kiya's house as fast as the speed limit would let her (A/N there's Keiko for you) and as soon as they got there, Botan and Keiko insisted that they all change.

Yukina had changed into another blue kimono, Botan changed into a pink kimono, Keiko dressed in a long skirt and a blouse.

Kiya, however, changed into a pair of faded, tattered jeans and a black and crimson cross-tie, strapless corset. On the front was a skull and cross bones sign. Again, black and ,red this time, bracelets adorned her wrists. On her feet, were her favorite, black combat boots.

"You cant wear THAT!" Keiko shouted, pointing to Kiya's outfit.

"And why not? You haven't even told me why I had to change in the first place….." Kiya thought about something, then a grin appeared on her face. "Either you tell me where we're going, or I stay in this."

Keiko sighed in defeat, knowing that if she told Kiya where they were all going, she'd be in 'trouble.' one, let's go."

On the way out, Kiya grabbed and put on her newly purchased long black coat.

Once in the car, Botan put a black bandana over Kiya's eyes, and Kiya didn't question anything. She already knew what was going on. They were taking her somewhere for a birthday party. The question was: where?

----------------AT 'FLARE'----------------

"They should be here by now," whined Yusuke as he glanced down at his watch. It read 9:05.

As if on cue, Kuwabara shouted, "THERE THEY ARE!" he had to yell to get the attentions of the others at the table over the roar of the club.

Yusuke and Kuwabara waved their arms in the air, signaling to Keiko and Botan where to bring Kiya.

Keiko obviously saw them, because Keiko lead the blindfolded girl, followed by Botan, who kept getting bumped into by drunken dancing people, and Yukina, who stayed close on Keiko's heels.

When they reached the table, Kiya, still blindfolded, yelled, "IT'S LOUD IN HERE!"

Keiko untied the bandana to let Kiya look around. Kiya's face immediately lit up and she looked up at Yusuke. While taking off her long coat and placing it on the chair behind her, she yelled to Yusuke,

"HOW DID YOU KNOW I WANTED TO COME HERE?"

"JUST A GUESS!" he answered back. Kiya looked around at everyone at the table. Yusuke. Keiko. Kuwabara. Yukina. Botan. Her. Unknown brunette male teenager. Unknown brunette female teenager. Kurama. Hiei.

Wait. Hiei? He came?

Kiya guessed it was against his will, because he sat with his arms crossed, glaring at Kurama.

But Kiya didn't have time to care about the gothic-looking boy's feelings, because she wanted to know who the new people were. "Who are they?" she asked Yusuke, not yelling anymore, because she was leaning into his ear.

He responded, "The girl is Shizuru, Kuwabara's sister. And that guy in Koenma."

"That's not Koenma, stupid. Koenma's a baby."

The guy next to Kiya obviously heard her, because he said, "I have two forms, Kiya. This is my teenage form."

She recognized his voice and asked no further questions. Except for one. "Why do you still have that pacifier?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, we're here to celebrate your birthday."

Kiya smiled, then hugged Koenma, catching him by surprise.

"Thanks for the apartment." She told him what she was hugging him for. He answered with a returned hug and a quick, "You're welcome."

Then, Kiya looked back at the rest of them. "THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THIS MEANS TO ME."

Everyone, except Hiei, yelled back a "You're welcome." Or a, "No problem."

Kiya frowned at Hiei, who was still glaring Kurama. She decided to try to talk to him, but she didn't feel like yelling, so she got up to sit by Hiei.

Hiei turned his glare to her. Before he got a chance to insult her or do something along those lines, she said, "You don't have to be here if you don't want to be."

"Hn."

She sighed, giving up. "Whatever." She got up to go back to her seat, unknowing of the pair of crimson eyes following her, then looking away when she sat down.

Unknown to Hiei, Kurama saw him watching Kiya, and he was now smiling to himself behind the glass of water he held to his lips.

Over head, 'All the things she said,' by T.A.T.U. started playing.

"Oh my god, I love this song." Said Kiya to no one in particular.

Besides the fact that she usually hated every kind of music besides rock, she liked techno, and she loved T.A.T.U. (A/N don't own)

While everyone told the waitress what they wanted to drink, Kiya began to sing the lyrics to herself.

"All the things she said, all the things she said,

Running through my head, running through my head……." She was cut off

'CRASH!'

Everyone at the table quickly turned their heads in the direction of the loud sound, to see a wall of the club in ruins on the ground. In the opening created from the now demolished wall, stand three, tall men, all in red cloaks, their heads covered.

People in the club began to scream loudly, all running to the back door in hopes of getting as far away from the three intruders as they could. The music was now no longer playing, the D.J. was already out of the club and somewhere down the street.

Kiya looked around in panic, seeing that none of her friends had made any move to go to the door, but Keiko, Botan, Shizuru and Yukina had began to back up towards the abandoned D.J. stand. They obviously knew what to do in this kind of a situation. Kiya just sat there like an idiot.

"YOUKAI!" Kuwabara yelled over the few screaming people left in the club.

Everyone at the table besides Kiya and Koenma got into a fighting stance.

After everyone had left the club, one of the three hooded figures spoke. "We've come for the girl." His voice was incredibly low and hoarse. He raised one muscular, gloved hand and pointed his finger right at Kiya.

Koenma, after hearing this, looked back at the scared stiff elemental and grabbed her hand, ran with her to behind the D.J. stand, where all the other girls were, and pulled Kiya into a crouching position.

Kiya finally recovered from her state of shock and whispered hoarsely to Koenma, "Who are they?"

"I don't know, shhh."

Kiya peeked over the side of the tall, black table when she heard a yell and a lot of movement to see that the three figures had moved closer to the four guys and that they, had in turn, began attacking. Yusuke and Kuwabara were against one of them, Kuwabara with an orange sword in hand and Yusuke's finger….was glowing…?

Kurama was against another one. Kiya was confused to find that he had a thorny whip as a weapon, and he was assaulting the cloaked figure with it, who was attacking back with a long metal pole.

Hiei and the other cloaked figure, however, were no where to be seen.

"Kiya, look out!" squeaked Botan's voice behind her.

Kiya turned around to see one of the cloaked figures standing right above her. She gasped and tried to backwards crawl away from him, but he merely bent over, and grabbed Kiya by the neck with one hand.

While Kiya was clawing at the man's gloved hand, she looked at the shadow where his face was hidden by the hood. All she could see were menacingly glowing yellow eyes.

"KIYA!" yelled the 4 people who had once shared the shelter of the D.J. stand with her, but were now scattered among the floor, hiding from the evil man in red.

"Hm, you're comin' with me." The man in the cloak said in a low, almost ghostly voice that made Kiya shiver.

Her eyes widened in realization. Her breath supply would not last much longer.

'_Happy' birthday, me._

--------------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'


	5. Chapter 5

Water and Fire 

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

---------------------------------------

Previously:

"Hm, you're comin' with me." The man in the cloak said in a low, almost ghostly voice that made Kiya shiver.

Her eyes widened in realization. Her breath supply would not last much longer.

'_Happy' birthday, me._

----------------------------------------

**Chapter 5: New powers**

Kiya's hands suddenly fell from a lack of energy from the man's hand to her sides. She was now limp, trying her hardest to save what little oxygen in her system she had left.

Kiya's captor turned, her throat still in his hand and was going to attempt to leave the club with his hostage. And he would've succeeded in doing so, if it weren't for one thing.

Hiei.

As soon as the cloaked figure had turned around, his arm that had Kiya at the end of it was met by a steady katana blade.

The cloaked demon yelled in pain as his forearm all the way up to his elbow slid off in a bloody mess and it fell to the floor, it's fingers still around Kiya's neck.

Kiya landed on the ground with a _'thud'. _She looked horrifiedly at the severed arm on top of her, and she quickly pried it's gloved fingers from her neck, and threw it roughly into a wall.

She looked back up to the now single-armed figure as it struggled with it's sword while trying to fight the obviously much faster Hiei. The arm that was cut off must have been his fighting arm. It was no use, though. The demon should've given up, he was no match for Hiei, even with his good arm. With one swift jump and one clean swipe of his katana, Hiei had successfully decapitated the cloaked demon, causing his head to roll onto the floor, without a hood on.

Kiya didn't know if it was coincidence or what, but the demon's head rolled right over to Kiya, it's now dull yellow eyes looking straight into Kiya's.

It was disgusting. The man's head was very wrinkly and clammy. It was a dull gray and open wounds from previous encounters with enemies covered his 'face', green pus flowing everywhere. Jeez, no wonder these guys wore hoods. Kiya could only guess what the rest of it's body looked like.

Gross.

Kiya quickly snapped out of her state of mind to look at Hiei, who was now finishing off the twitching demon that lay beneath Yusuke and Kuwabara. Kurama's demon was already very dead. When Kiya looked away from him, Hiei stole a glance at her.

Kiya looked behind her to see Keiko and Yukina huddled in a corner, and she got up to run to them.

"Are you okay?" asks Keiko, worriedly.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Replied Kiya. Her hand flew up to her neck, just to reassure herself that it was still whole, and she looked back at Hiei, who was taking his katana out of the now still demon.

_My hero._ Kiya thought to herself.

At that moment, Hiei's head shot up, and his crimson gaze immediately locked with Kiya's, making her have to catch her breath. For a few moments, they just stared at each other, a hint of confusion and alarm in behind Hiei's crimson eyes.

_I wouldn't be surprised if he could read minds._

"Hn." Muttered Hiei, before returning his attentions to his katana.

_Woah…._

"Kiya, are you alright!" Yelled Botan after making sure that all the demons were dead… or so she thought.

(A/N hehe)

"Yes, Botan, I'm fi- AAH!" Kiya screamed after feeling something grab her leg. She spun around quickly and saw that the body of the decapitated demon had managed to crawl over to Kiya and grab her leg. She tried to kick it off, but to no prevail.

"HOLY CRAP IT'S ALIVE!" Yelled Kuwabara as he, Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei had walked over to them, to see what Kiya was screaming about.

Kurama and Hiei made a move to the demon, when Kiya screamed in agony.

What remaining spirit energy the demon had was put into shocking Kiya's leg. Suddenly, Kiya's eyes turned a devastating midnight blue, and her instincts took over her body. Kiya reached down to the demon, and placed her hand firmly around the demon's arm.

Hiei watched in somewhat wonder as Kiya reached down and grabbed the demon's arm. He looked at her eyes for a brief moment to see that she was not blinking and her gaze was filled with determination and concentration. Suddenly, Kiya's hand started to glow blue, in turn making the entire body of the demon start glowing as well. The glow soon subsided, and the demons body started to become transparent.

When it's body was fully transparent, Kiya lifted her hand from the demon and stepped back. As soon as she did, the demon's clear body fell apart. Literally. It was like it had become water and it was now spilling all over the room. The water rushed across the floor over to Kiya, but Hiei noticed that the water almost encircled her feet, running right past her without making contact with her.

The room was silent for a moment, then someone finally spoke.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!" yelled Kuwabara as he frantically climbed over Yusuke to get away from the oncoming water.

"It seems that Kiya has received her powers." Answered Kurama, not looking away from Kiya as she turned around to look at Kurama. He stared back at her uncertainly as her deep blue eyes suddenly returned to their normal silver. She blinked a couple times, then said, "What the hell just happened?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT JUST HAPPENED? YOU FRICKEN LIQUIFIED THAT DEMON RIGHT THERE! HE TURNED INTO A PUDDLE!" yelled Kuwabara, still obviously freaked out from the little 'incident.'

"Congratulations, Kuwabara, you used a big word." Kiya joked, but was suddenly aware of a throbbing pain coming from her forehead.

Kiya raised her hand to the uncomfortable throbbing that was coming from the area next to her right eye.

_My birthmark!_ She realized as she felt the imprint of the 'tear'-shaped birthmark that was next to her right eye. She realized how oddly warm it felt.

Kurama noticed something glowing from beneath her hand on her head and he walked up to her. He reached his hand towards Kiya's and said, "May I?"

Kiya nodded and lowered her hand. Kurama's eyes widened at what he saw.

Her birthmark was glowing a bright blue.

"Oh, I've heard of this. Every elemental has the sign of their element somewhere on their body and when they send out their powers, the mark glows with the elemental color. No one understands how though."

Kiya had zoned out of the conversation a while ago. She was too busy looking at her hands. _How had she done that?_ Thinking, she looked over to the other demon's bodies. She quickly walked over to them, making everyone go silent and stare at her. She kneeled next to the one of the corpses and cautiously put her hand on it. Just like before, her hand and the corpse glowed blue, then she let go of the body, and it turned clear and suddenly fell apart in a small wave of water. (Just like in X-Men)

She gasped. "I have no control over it!" she mumbled more to herself than anyone else. The others soon were by her side, looking at her. She looked back up to them, Koenma mostly and whispered, "What's happening to me?"

"You're becoming what you were always destined to be." He said with a sad look in his eyes.

"Is it possible to myself?"

"Yes."

"Will you teach me?"

Koenma thought about this for a while. Then spoke. "It is certain that these demons are not the last that will be sent after you. You will need to learn how to protect yourself and harness your powers." He looked over to the Rekai Tantei. "You will stay with her for tonight, then in the morning, you will take her to Genkai's." he looked back to Kiya. "You will go to Genkai's temple everyday and she along with Kurama and Hiei will train you to become the powerful elemental I know you can be."

Kiya smiled weakly at Koenma. He was trying to help her, something no one had tried to do in a very long time. Emotions swept over her. Confusion. Fear. Hope. Hope that her life might turn itself around and she wouldn't have to run forever like Koenma said she probably will.

Kiya glanced down at her hands sadly. "What do I do about…_these_?" she raised and lowered her hands, letting Koenma know what she was talking about.

Kurama spoke this time. "You will probably have to keep your hands covered so that no 'accidents' can occur. Leather gloves should do just fine." (1)

Kiya nodded. A yawn escaped her lips.

"It is getting late. I have to go back to Rekai, you all should head back to Kiya's. Tomorrow, you guys don't have to go to school. Getting Kiya to Genkai's is much more important."

"YES NO SCHOOL!" Yelled Yusuke and Kuwabara simultaneously.

Koenma rolled his eyes and shook his head in disapproval. He summoned a portal and disappeared into it.

Kiya spotted her coat on an overturned chair and she went to it. She put it on and was relieved to find that it was warm. That's what she needed right now. Warmth.

She walked back over to the others and said, "I guess we should start going."

"Ok, just don't touch me…." Said Kuwabara, stepping to the side, away from Kiya. Kiya glared at him and laughed along with Yusuke when he fell face first to the ground, courtesy of the foot that Kiya had kicked the back of his legs with. But, Kuwabara had struck a nerve, and Kiya hid her hands within the confines of her coat pockets.

-----------BACK AT KIYA'S APARTMENT----------

Everyone had picked a spot on the floor in Kiya's living room, including Kiya. She would never admit it, but she was scared, which was not at all normal for her. She didn't know what to do. Today was just an example of how badly she was wanted. How badly she was hated. She didn't know who sent those demons after her, and she didn't know what they wanted, all she did know was that her life had just taken it's turn. Her fate was slowly becoming realized, and Kiya didn't like it. Not one bit.

Kiya laid buried under her cotton blanket, the one that had come with the bed that was in her new apartment. She was curled into a ball on her leather couch. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama were spread out on the floor, all with their own pillow and blanket. Kiya didn't know how he did it, but Kuwabara had somehow ended up rolling all the way into the hallway, sleeping in the most upsurd position. His back was on the ground, but his legs were on the wall. If you turned your head a certain angle, it would look as though he was sitting on the wall. But, the most disturbing thing about the whole picture, was that Kuwabara was sucking on his thumb. Loudly. You know that sound your shoes make when you step in them after they've been dunked under water? That 'slurping'/'swishing' noise? Yeah, that's the sound that was being emitted from the idiot in the hall. Kiya couldn't help but laugh quietly, especially after seeing the trail of drool traveling from his mouth down the side of his face.

A rustling sound coming from her window made Kiya turn her attention from Kuwabara to the black-clad figure who now sat at her once-vacant windowsill. He was looking outside when Kiya sat up. Hiei looked at her and glared, but Kiya didn't care.

She glared right back.

She tossed aside her blanket and got up, walking over to the windowsill where Hiei sat. He looked right into her eyes. She thought it odd how emotionless his gaze was.

After being silenced by Hiei's un-breaking glare, she finally found her voice. "I never got a chance to thank you for what you did today."

"Hn."

"You know, I'm trying to be nice here, the least you could do is try to be nice back."

"I'm not a nice person." He returned his attentions to outside the window.

She groaned. "Fine." She stomped back over to the couch and plopped down onto it, re-covering herself and closing her eyes with a "_God._"

The now-awake Kurama smiled to himself before attempting to re-entering the silenced world of slumber. (A/N I never thought I'd sound that intelligent!)

-----------------HIEI'S POV----------------

I sat on the windowsill and watched as the Onna's breathing became steadier and I knew that she had finally fallen asleep. She had thanked me for saving her. Why had I saved her?

_Because it was my job. If I let her die, I'd be thrown into the Rekai prison. _

"_Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Hiei."_

Hiei recognized the mind intruder's voice immediately. He turned to see the red-headed Kitsune sitting up, smiling at him.

"_What do you want, fox?"_

Kiya stirred in her sleep, which reminded Hiei that Kiya could hear telepathic conversations.

Kurama must've remembered this as well, because he stood up and went to the front door, summoning Hiei to follow with a wave of his hand.

Hiei reluctantly followed Kurama outside and as soon as they were away from the apartments, Hiei jumped into a tree. Kurama leaned against that said tree and asked, "Why did you help her, Hiei? That's not at all like you."

Hiei could hear the amusement in his voice, and hissed a reply. "I do not want to get thrown into prison. You of all people should know that."

Kurama just chuckled. "I have known you for a long time, Hiei, and I know a lie when I hear one."

_I'm not lying._ Hiei thought angrily to himself. _………That's the only reason I saved her from being killed._

_Right?_

It pissed Hiei off when the fox was right.

Hiei knew there was another reason for helping Kiya, but he didn't even know what it was. Hiei hated being uncertain, it bothered him to no end, but he wouldn't let Kurama know that.

Hiei could not deny that Kiya was not like the other Ningen girls he'd met before. She wasn't one of the fan-girls who chased him or Kurama down the street in the hopes of obtaining a lock of their chase-ee's hair or a shred of their clothing. No, she was nothing like that. But neither was she like the ferry-girl or the detective's girlfriend. Kiya was different, and Hiei didn't know what to think of her.

He would not admit to himself he attraction he felt in the pit of his stomach, the attraction that his demon side and subconscious mind had already been fully aware of.

_No! Attraction is an un-needed Ningen emotion that takes attention away from more important things, like keeping Yukina safe, and keeping myself out of prison!_

Kurama just chuckled again, but quickly shut up after seeing the death glare being shot at him.

"Im going back to bed, Hiei." Kurama started on his way back to the apartment door, when he stopped. Not even looking at the gothic-looking boy in the tree, he said, "No one said it was a crime to be attracted to someone. You won't get thrown into prison for it." And with that, he disappeared into the apartment.

Hiei growled under his breath. _Baka Kitsune._

After about 30 minutes of just sitting in the tree, gazing at the sky, he jumped back to the open window of the apartment. Leaning against the windowsill, he allowed himself to take one more look at the sleeping girl on the couch before closing his own eyes and soon falling into the repetitive nature known as sleep. (A/N as you can probably tell, I hate just calling it 'sleep')

Tomorrow, they would go to Genkai's temple.

---------------------------------

Okay, since everyone hates cliffhangers, I left this chapter at a reasonable spot.

Preview for next chapter:

"….Oh. My. God……..I can fly!"

-----------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	6. Chapter 6

Water and Fire 

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

------------------------------------

Previously:

Tomorrow, they would go to Genkai's temple.

(A/N short, sweet and to the point)

-------------------------------------

**Chapter 6: Surprise, Surprise and Training Hell**

"You've got to be kidding."

"Nope,"

"I have to climb all of _those_?"

"Pretty much."

"……..hey Yusuke,"

"Hey what?"

"Can I get on your back?"

"No."

"Aw, why not?"

"Hey, we'd get to the top faster if you'd both just SHUT UP!"

"Kuwabara's right…..woah, never thought I'd say _that_."

"Very funny, Urameshi, now lets go!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked around to where Kiya once stood.

"Hey, where'd she go?" asked Kuwabara.

They both looked back to Kurama, who merely pointed to the long staircase leading to Genkai's temple. There, on the staircase, was Kiya, going up the stairs as fast as she could. The smug gloves she wore on her hands that went all the way up to her elbows shone in the sunlight, the leather, a glowing black.

Since Kiya had been told they were going to be doing 'training' of some sort today, she wore tight black sweat pants and a light-weight black tank top that slightly showed her mid drift. Of course, black converses were tied smugly on her feet.

"HaHa! I'll beat you all to the top!" she yelled behind her, addressing _all_ of the guys.

"WHAT!" yelled Kuwabara.

"YOU WISH!" Yusuke.

The two spirit detectives soon joined in the race, jumping 3 stairs at a time, which just encouraged Kiya to go faster.

Kurama started to climb the stairs as well, but at a calmer rate. He looked behind him at the fire youkai who was still standing at the bottom.

"Are you coming, Hiei?"

"Hn."

The Kitsune shrugged, then continued on his path up the stairs, leaving Hiei behind.

--------20 minutes later---------

"Ha! (pant) im beating (pant) both of y(pant)ou." Stated the tired Kiya proudly when she was finally only 20 steps from the top. A little ways behind her were Yusuke followed by Kuwabara, who had tripped twice, earning him the position of dead last. Even Kurama, who was calmly walking up the stairs next to Yusuke, was ahead of Kuwabara. Hiei was still at the bottom.

Kiya, Yusuke and Kuwabara were now at the point of literally _crawling_ up the steps.

When Kuwabara finally realized that Hiei was not with them, he looked back to see him just standing there at the bottom, watching the events on the staircase unfold.

"What's the (pant) shrimp doin'?" He asked no one in particular.

"HA! Im (pant) only three steps (pant) from the top. (pant)"

Kiya weakly raised her hand, and placed it on the second step from the top, pulling the rest of her body up onto the third step. Raise hand, place it 1 step from the top, pull up body.

Just as Kiya was about to place her shaky hand on the top step, therefore declaring her victory, a black blur sped past her, making her hair flip wildly.

"What the…." The water elemental (A/N anyone got a Japanese word for 'elemental'?) looked up, to see Hiei already at the top, walking calmly to the temple, his back to everyone.

"Hey, how'd he do that?" she asked as Kurama also reached the top step.

"Let's just say that he has never lost a race." He stated amusedly before helping Kiya to her feet and walking with her to the temple. Kurama had never seen Hiei partake in one of Yusuke's and Kuwabara's contests, and it was quite odd. Kurama was becoming aware of changes occurring in his life-long friend, and he knew for a fact that a certain water elemental was casing these changes.

All Kurama could think is, _it's about time._ Thankfully, Hiei had not been reading his thoughts.

"Hey! You gonna help us?" Yelled Yusuke after finally reaching the top step, tugging on Kuwabara's arm. Kiya looked back at them to see that Kuwabara had given up, two steps from the top, and he was now sprawled on his stomach, looking very much like a liquid.

Kiya just laughed and continued walking with Kurama until an old lady with faded pink hair and a raspy voice confronted them. Kiya saw Yukina smiling happily at her from the temple steps while she tried to help Kuwabara walk. Kiya smiled back.

"It's about time you all got here! Since you're late, Kiya will have to start her training immediately." The old woman yanked Kiya forward by her arm with a strength not expected by any human, let alone an old woman, and led her past the temple into the forest. Kiya was confused and looked back at Kurama who was following them. Yusuke and Kuwabara were still crawling, but now they were on their way to the temple door, and Hiei was no where to be seen.

"That's Genkai, the temple owner."

Kiya nodded and followed Genkai obediently as she came to a clearing in the forest.

Genkai walked to the center of the clearing, then abruptly sat down, conveniently pulling Kiya down with her. Kiya landed on her rear with and uncoordinated _'thud'_ Genkai let go of Kiya's arm, then crossed her legs. Kiya did the same and watched in wonder as the woman closed her eyes. Kiya, not knowing what to do, side-glanced at Kurama, who was leaning against a tree, watching them. He just motioned towards Genkai.

"Close your eyes, dimwit." The raspy voice of Genkai startled Kiya and she immediately closed her eyes. "Now, relax every muscle in your body, all the way from your head, down to your toes. Relax them. Now, take deep breaths, inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth."

Kiya did as she was told and began to breathe slowly. She suddenly felt very light, and dizzy. Kiya kept breathing, actually liking the feeling that meditating brought to her.

"Good, now clear your mind. When it is clear, envision a glowing blue orb floating above the ground as though it had invisible wings. Imagine it levitating."

Kiya did as she was told and cleared her mind after a little bit of trouble from the song that would not stop playing in her head.

_This is the song that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friends…._

_SHUT UP!_

……_ok._

Kiya smiled contently to herself at her accomplishment, then began to envision the orb.

It came to her almost instantly. The orb was blue, as it was instructed to be, and it was glowing, as if it had an incredibly powerful energy trapped within it's round confines. It was floating, flying as Kiya saw it. Flying in place. Kiya was almost so mesmerized by the blue orb, that she barely heard what Genkai said.

"Well, I thought it was going to take longer than that."

Kiya, wanting to know what Genkai was talking about, peeped one eye open to see that Genkai was no where in sight. She kept her eye halfway closed, so that the world was still blurry from behind her black lashes and said, "Genkai?"

"Im down here."

Confused by Genkai's response, Kiya opened her eyes fully, only to gaze around her, her eyes wide.

The ground on which Genkai sat was at least 10 feet below her, and Kiya could see over the temple. Kiya was floating!

"Woah….." she said quietly, as if by speaking loudly, she would fall. "….Oh. My. God……..I can fly!"

------------------------

I want to end it here so badly, but I wont, because that wouldn't be fair to all my wonderful readers. ……and you'd all probably chase me with pitchforks and soup ladles(don't ask) so I wont.

-------------------------

"She can fly?" asked Kurama, who was now looking up in wonder at the floating girl.

"Of course she can fly! Didn't Koenma tell you? Every elemental can fly."

"Uh, Genkai," Kiya spoke a little louder this time. "H-how do I get down?"

"Close your eyes. Is your orb still there?"

Kiya closed her eyes, and sure enough, the floating blue sphere of energy was still there. "Yes."

"Okay, now release it…." Kiya didn't listen to the rest. She released her orb quickly, only to be sent flying to the ground. "AHH-_'bump'_"

Genkai rolled her eyes at the stupid girl and finished her sentence. "…slowly."

Kiya groaned as she rubbed her sore back.

Genkai rolled her eyes distastefully at the girl. "Kurama, you can have her now, (A/N not in the gross way, you perverts! Get your heads outta the gutters!) I'm going inside to make sure the dimwit hasn't broken anything."

Kurama nodded then bowed respectfully.

Kiya, still on the ground, made a nodding motion with her head that was supposed to signify her bowing, but Genkai was already on her way back to the temple, so it really didn't matter.

Kurama turned his attentions to Kiya and said "Okay, I will be training you in tapping into your elemental powers."

"Didn't Genkai already do that?"

"No, it seems she only wanted to see you fly. We will train for only a little while, then I will turn you over to Hiei, who will train you with your speed and a weapon of your choice."

"Will we be…..fighting?"

"Probably."

Gulp.

"Okay, so we're going to sit down for this. Now I want you to meditate just as you did with Genkai."

Kiya nodded and repeated the relaxing and emptying the mind thing. Or she _tried_ to empty her mind, but a certain small blue light in the back of her mind wouldn't budge.

"Okay, you should be able to see an energy in your mind soon."

Oh, so that's what it was.

"I see it."

Kurama eyed the girl suspiciously. She wasn't supposed to be able to see her energy so quickly, it was not normal. But then again, being an elemental wasn't normal, so he continued.

"Okay, now bring it out. Tap into the energy and focus on making it show itself. Hold out your hand, palm facing outwards in front of you."

Kiya did as instructed as Kurama got up and stood behind her. Whatever energy Kiya was going to bring out, Kurama did not want to be in it's way.

Kiya's breathing suddenly became slower and deeper as her entire body began to glow a bluish hue. Kurama back away slightly.

"Now focus that energy into your hand." Kurama ordered from behind.

Kiya didn't do anything to show she heard him, but the glow around her slowly began to move across her, leaving the rest of her black-clad body un-glowing, and her hand glowing brightly. The remaining energy that wasn't around her hand snaked up from her back, traveling around her gloved-arm and to her hand, slinking between her fingers.

Kurama smiled approvingly and said, "Now release it."

Kurama could sense Kiya's hesitation. She was worried. She had never done this before and she had no clue how it was going to turn out. But, Kiya was never one to care about consequences, so she shrugged and prepared to release the new-found energy from her hold.

That's when Kurama saw Kuwabara.

He was walking out of the forest towards Kiya and Kurama, walking slowly. As usual, he was too stupid to realize that Kiya was about to release an attack, but he did sense her energy, and he stepped to the side slightly.

But that did not dub him out of harm's way, and Kurama knew this.

"Kiya, wait…" he attempted to get her to hold on for a moment so Kuwabara could get out of the way, but it was too late. Kiya had already released her energy, sending a large transparent wave of blue energy out in front of her. By now, Kiya's eyes were open and she was watching in wonder, until she too saw Kuwabara.

"KUWABARA, MOVE!" she yelled.

He didn't hear her. The roar of the wave was too loud, and it was now plowing right into Kuwabara, sending him flying into a nearby tree. (Kuwabara haters: YES!) As soon as the wave hit Kuwabara, it dissipated, the blue energy returning in the form of a long spiral into Kiya's body. She quickly got to her feet and along with Kurama, ran to Kuwabara, who was now lying face first on the ground, pieces of the now-destroyed tree he flew into were scattered everywhere.

"Kuwabara, you still alive?" asked Kiya as Kurama crouched down next to him and turned him onto his back. To their relief, Kuwabara was still very much alive, and he had swirls in his eyes.

Kiya sighed in relief and at that moment, Yusuke, Yukina and Genkai rushed to Kuwabara.

"What happened?"

"Kazuma!"

"Ha, Kuwabara lost to a tree!"

Came the three statements.

Kiya could've sworn she faintly heard an amused grunt coming from above her. She looked up to see a black-clad figure flitting away. The branches of the tree where the figure previously sat quavered slightly with the sudden departure.

Hiei.

She sighed. He was so…..weird.

"KIYA ALMOST KILLED ME!" the now fully sane Kuwabara yelled.

"I did not! You just refused to listen and move out of the way." She defended, smacking him upside the head.

"HEY!"

"Im sorry to interrupt, but Kiya must return to her training." Said Kurama politely.

Yusuke laughed and pulled Kuwabara up, leading him back through the forest and to the temple, with Genkai and Yukina following them, Genkai muttering something about 'stupid dimwits who cant listen.'

Kiya followed Kurama back to the middle of the clearing and said, "Alright, what's up next, Yoda?"

Kurama, momentarily confused about this sudden nickname, replied, "Nothing with me. I think that's enough for one day, now Hiei will train you until it's time to go home."

"Which is?"

"In about 3 hours."

Double gulp.

"Have fun." Kurama joked politely, chuckling slightly behind his back, already on his way back to the temple.

"Of course, I've always thought it would be fun to DIE!" she yelled after him.

"Baka onna," Came a cold voice behind Kiya.

"Jeez…." She yelped while spinning around, seeing Hiei behind her, holding a blade in it's sheath.

He threw it at her, making it hit her right in the face, then plopping onto the ground.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" She yelled at the fire apparition, who was glaring un- approvingly at her. Kiya rubbed her sore nose.

"Hn."

"THAT'S NOT EVEN A WORD!"

Kiya stood in horror as Hiei just provided her with three words.

"Speed and defense."

Then, he disappeared.

"Kuso.." she mumbled as she spun around frantically, searching for the fast moving youkai.

Suddenly, she was hit from the back with a katana blade, making the skin of her upper back break, forming a long scratch in her black shirt. She felt a warm liquid falling down her back. She gasped in pain.

She turned around to look at Hiei. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"Hn." And he disappeared again.

Kurama, who had returned a moment earlier, deciding it would be interesting to see Hiei train and Kiya attempt to _be_ trained, yelled, "Kiya, use the katana!"

It took a moment for Kiya's mind to grasp what Kurama had instructed her to do, but then she finally complied, quickly picking up the sheathed sword. She fumbled slightly while trying desperately to un-sheathe the blade as fast as possible.

That's when a blade made contact with her skin…again. This time on her right arm. Kiya quickly spun to her right a swung her katana.

She hit nothing. Hiei had already moved.

"Damn,"

She heard the grass rustle behind her, and she turned around, to come face to face with a katana blade coming down quickly towards her head.

"Hiei!" yelled Kurama, but was soon silenced by the sound of two katanas 'clinking' loudly together.

Kiya peeped open one of her now closed eyes to see that she had raised her blade above her head and it had met Hiei's blade, mere-centimeters from her face.

Hiei looked at her emotionlessly for a moment, before shooting her a chilling smirk.

Before Kiya had a chance to question this out of character facial expression, a foot had made contact with her gut, sending her flying 3 feet, then falling to the ground.

Hiei looked emotionlessly down at her, before once again flittering out of view.

Kiya groaned and stood up again, hoping that her luck of blocking Hiei's attacks would keep up.

--------3 HOURS LATER---------

Let's just say that her luck didn't keep up.

After her 3 hours in hell, Kiya was crawling out of the forest, fresh scratches and bruises everywhere, muttering something about 'stupid ego-crazed fire youkai's with big, pointy sticks', while Kurama was walking beside her, trying his best to hide his laughter behind his hand.

…..which wasn't working all that well.

He could sense Hiei flittering through the trees above them, finding it un-like him to stick with them instead of just going ahead to the temple. But hey, Kurama was not one to question the powers of the attraction between a powerful fire youkai and his attract-ee. (A/N not a word, I know)

Although, Hiei had no clue that it was attraction. True, that he did feel different around this girl, and he didn't know why. That's why he was following her, to find out what the hell was happening to him and why this girl seemed to be triggering this odd 'illness', as he like to call it.

Kurama had stayed for the whole training session, finding it amusing that Hiei had never severed one of her limbs. Not once. Well, there was a first time for everything, and those first-timers had been coming out of the Kitsune's friend constantly lately.

Once they reached the temple, Koenma was waiting for them in the living room, along with Yukina, Genkai, Yusuke and a still pissed off Kuwabara.. Kiya, finally able to stand, leaned against the wall, mostly for support, and said to Koenma, "You had better be providing us with a portal to get home."

"Of course Kiya, but first, here." He handed her a box that was about the size of her forearm. It was wrapped in a blue cloth, and had a note on it. She read the paper outloud.

"To Kiya. You'll be needing this soon."

With her brows furrowed, she began to unwrap the package.

Kurama noticed the figure suddenly appearing at the windowsill, watching Kiya.

When the package was fully unwrapped, Kiya opened the top of the brown cardboard box and suddenly pulled out a long, deep red piece of clothing.

Confused, Kiya pulled the cloth all the way out of the box, dropped the box on the ground and began to examine the…. cloak, as it seemed to be.

When Kiya got around to looking on the back of the cloak, her eyes widened. She gasped loudly, and threw the cloth onto the ground, away from her.

She backed away from the cloak and into the wall, her eyes wide with fear.

Everyone in the room looked at Kiya, then at the cloth that was lying on it's front on the ground, it's back fully exposed to everyone.

There, on the back of the cloak, was a silver sign. A water drop encircled by a long, blue spiral.

Beneath the sign that clearly meant, 'water', was another note, pinned to the cloak.

**You belong with us, Kiya.**

---------------------------------

Hehe.

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	7. Chapter 7

Water and Fire 

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-------------------------------

Previously:

When Kiya got around to looking on the back of the cloak, her eyes widened. She gasped loudly, and threw the cloth onto the ground, away from her.

She backed away from the cloak and into the wall, her eyes wide with fear.

Everyone in the room looked at Kiya, then at the cloth that was lying on it's front on the ground, it's back fully exposed to everyone.

There, on the back of the cloak, was a silver sign. A water drop encircled by a long, blue spiral.

Beneath the sign that clearly meant, 'water', was another note, pinned to the cloak.

**You belong with us, Kiya.**

---------------------------------

**Chapter 7:**

----------LATER THAT NIGHT------------

Long after everyone had gone home from a tiring day at Genkai's temple (Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama all to their own houses and Hiei stayed at Genkai's temple), Kiya sat cross legged on her bed, staring out the window that was directly in front of her bed.

She was thinking of one thing.

That cloak. It had matched the cloak that the other elemental's in her dream wore. They had sent her own to her, telling her that she'd 'need it soon' and that she 'belonged with them'. She never wanted to see the cloak again, that's why she left it with Koenma with the instructions to burn it.

But, knowing Koenma, he would probably keep it and try to track it's fibers to the cloak's origin.

God. That deep red color made her shudder. Most red things did. Cloaks. Blood. Eyes.

Wait, eyes?

……..Hiei!

Hiei's eyes. They were the deepest crimson Kiya had seen in……ever. Yukina's were red as well, but not that deep.

But, unlike the other red things that made Kiya shudder, Hiei's eyes almost made her want to break out in goose bumps and run to her bed and burrow under as many thick, cotton comforters she could get her hands on. That's how cold his gaze was.

_God, Hiei, what could've happened to you to make you so cold?_

Kiya wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

…….WAIT! Why the HELL was she thinking about Hiei?

Kiya gripped her head angrily and fell over sideways, her head being instantly buried into a pillow. She closed her eyes in an attempt to fall asleep, but she only succeeded in seeing a certain fire youkai……in her mind…….shirtless…….

Her eyes shot open.

_STOP IT! _ _STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT VERTICALLY CHALLENGED, TALL-HAIRED, TOTALLY HOT AND ALLURING JACKASS!_ ………wait……….that came out wrong. _Ugh, whatever._ She groaned in frustration.

She glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand, the red numbers blinked, '12:37 am'

Man. She had to go to school tomorrow. Koenma said. And, to top it all off, they had to go to Genkai's immediately after school, the whole 'training' order still very much in effect.

She sighed and turned onto her stomach, and dug her head into her pillow.

Totally oblivious to the presence outside her window.

-----------------------------

The elemental of fire floated above the ground right outside Kiya's bedroom window.

(A/N bet you thought it was Hiei, huh?)

Word had gotten to him that demons under the rule of Markusho, the demon lord of a group of bandits in the north-western Makai, were ordered to some to Ningenkai and retrieve Kiya, so that Markusho could try to obtain her powers, therefore becoming the elemental of water.

The demons would be arriving shortly, if not today, in a couple of days, to take Kiya away.

_His_ Kiya.

The same girl whose parents he had murdered so they would not be in the way when he would come to claim her, and rule the three worlds.

Jasaro's piercing yellow eyes stared at the now-sleeping form on her bed.

"L-lord Jasaro?" sqeaked a short, green hanyou asked, popping out of nowhere.

"What?' The red-haired- 17 year old snapped, ripping his gaze from his 'sleeping beauty' to the despicable demon slave at his side.

"L-lord Maero and Lady Lila have requested your presence in the great hall. N-now."

Jasaro groaned in frustration. "Fine. Tell them I will be with them in a moment." He said to the demon, referring to the two other elementals who had remained in the elemental's lair while Jasaro had gone out to watch over his mate-to-be.

The demon nodded, then disappeared in a puff of green smoke. Jasaro took one more look at his 'sleeping beauty' before flying off, towards the elemental's lair.

From the tree tops in the forest nearby, a pair of crimson eyes were watching the whole scenario, thoughts going through his head.

_So, that was the elemental of fire. Jasaro. What was he doing outside that onna's wiondow?_

_What are **you** doing outside her window?_

_What are you talking about?_

Hiei's eyes widened slightly when he suddenly found himself right outside of Kiya's bedroom window, staring right at her. Her steady breathing, her blue hair fallen in front of her face. Hiei was very taken aback when a tiny part of him was pissed off at the hair for blocking her face from sight, and even further taken aback when that same tiny part of him felt the urge to move the stray hairs.

When Kiya shifted in her sleep, Hiei immediately flitted away, thinking she had awoken. The truth was, she was still very much asleep, only searching for something while she was dreaming. She found it too. It was her pillow. She brought it to her face and bit it.

We all can only imagine what sort of an odd dream she was having.

But, Hiei didn't know that, so he went back to Genkai's. To check on Yukina.

------------------THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL------------------

The day at school went by as usual.

Completely and utterly boring.

Kiya practically jumped out of her chair when the bell for the end of the day finally rang…..but then she remembered the whole 'training' thing, and her demeanor soon went from happy to utter loathing. She did **not** feel like getting her ass kicked by Hiei… again. She was still sore from yesterday's events.

She and Yusuke would've ditched school and gone out on the roof a long time ago, if it weren't for two things. One: Keiko. Two: Koenma had this freaky way of telling when they skipped, and when they did, he got pissed, so they both decided that it would be best if they just stayed in their classes. Koenma said they couldn't ditch. He never said anything about going to sleep.

So that's exactly what they did, they both slept, until the end of school. Only waking up when they had to go to their next class and when Keiko yelled disapprovingly at them.

Kiya got up off her desk and kicked Yusuke to wake him up.

"Huh, wha…….Hey, where's everybody?" He looked around at the empty classroom.

"School ended about 5 minutes ago, retard. C'mon." Her and Yusuke met Kuwabara in the hallway. Kiya could tell he was recently sleeping because he still had some drool on his chin. She decided against telling him. She wanted to see how long it would take for him to notice it on her own.

The three of them walked down the hallway until they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, it's the sexy freak."

Kiya recognized that voice. Brian Mcdougal. An exchange student from America. He was your typical jackass jock. Fine-toned, blonde hair that fell into his eyes, and bright blue eyes. Oh, and he went out with the head cheerleader. She kept walking, ignoring him.

"So Kiya, tell me, was your mom as hot as you are? Because if she was, it's such a shame she's dead now, huh Ronnie?" the bastard asked a tall, black haired kid standing next to him. Behind the two was the entire football team, looking for their afternoon fun. And that just happened to be a short, blue haired 16 year old, by the name of Kiya Shikina.

"Oh yeah." The tall boy, Ronnie answered.

Kiya stopped dead in her tracks, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. Yusuke turned to her while Kuwabara yelled to them, "Hey, say one more word and l'll punch your ugly face in!" To Kuwabara, that was supposed to be an insult, but it wasn't. Especially because he had called them ugly when he wasn't the greatest looking guy in the world.

"C'mon Kiya, they aren't worth it."

Now Brian started talking again.

"So, tell us Kiya, why'd you kill her huh? Why'd you murder your own par-----." His sentence was cut off by him being roughly thrown into the wall of lockers, a small yet powerful gloved hand at his neck. Kiya had, again, lost control of herself and her eyes returned to that menacing midnight blue. His eyes went wide with surprise and shock.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." She growled through clenched teeth.

Although Brian looked scared out of his mind, he still had the nerve to smirk and yell one word. "RAPE!"

Kiya held up her other hand in a fist, which shut him up fast.

Behind her, the entire football team was cowering in a corner of the hallway, afraid to help their friend in the event that they too would get their asses kicked. By now, they were all dead quiet, so was everyone else in the hallway. The few students that hadn't caught their busses already and that were wandering the halls froze, watching in wonder as the football captain was being ordered around by this short girl.

Yusuke and Kuwabara came up to her and tried to pry her off of him.

"Kiya! We need to go now!" Yusuke said while yanking on one of her arms.

Kiya's eyes suddenly turned back to their normal silver, and she ripped her hand from his neck, making him collapse onto his knees, gripping his neck and coughing wildly.

Kiya glared at him before shaking off Yusuke's and Kuwabara's hands and turning around to walk with them.

And that's when she turned back around suddenly, throwing a punch right into the cowering boy's face, making him dizzy and fall to the floor. She smirked evilly in satisfaction and turned back around, walking ahead of the shocked duo.

"She's almost as scary as the shrimp." Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke.

"No kidding."

--------------AT GENKAI'S----------------

The three had met up with Kurama on their way to Genkai's and now Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Yukina and Genkai were all forming a circle around a very confused Kiya in the middle of the clearing outside of Genkai's temple in the forest. Hiei was, as usual, perched in a tree, watching everything.

"This is a part of your training. We're going to try to get you to fly today while standing up. Maybe even get you to move around while you're in the air." Said Kurama. Kiya looked to Genkai who said one thing. "Medidtate."

Now she knew what they wanted her to do. Kiya closed her eyes and began to meditate like she had done yesterday. Again, she envisioned the same blue orb floating.

She stood like this for about 5 minutes until she finally felt her feet leaving the ground. She opened her eyes, still keeping her focus on the orb, to see that she was slowly rising.

"Good, now envision the orb rising." Ordered Genkai.

Kiya nodded and envisioned her orb going up. But her only problem, she accidentally imagined it rising, quickly. Very quickly.

"AAAAHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……" The circle of people could not hear Kiya anymore. She had shot up in the air so quickly, that she barely had any time to scream.

"What the hell?" asked Kuwabara while everyone, including Hiei, was looking up.

"aaaaaaaahhhhHHHHHHHHHHH-OOF!" They all saw Kiya plummeting back to the ground, quickly. Everyone, out of instinct, stepped back, hoping Kiya could begin to float before she hit the ground. Everyone, that is, except Kuwabara. That's where the 'OOF' came from. Kiya landing on top of the idiot, which sent both of them to the ground.

Kiya rubbed her head and quickly sat up, getting off of Kuwabara, who once again, had swirls in his eyes.

"Heh, sorry."

Kuwabara groaned in pain and sat up, almost falling back again because of the sudden head rush.

"THAT'S TWO TIMES NOW THAT YOU'VE TRIED TO KILL ME!" Kuwabara yelled, scrambling to his feet and cowering from her behind Yukina- which was a funny sight, let me tell you.

Kiya just smiled sweetly and said, "And that's two times now that you've survived. You're on a roll."

"Come, Kiya. It's time to return to your training." Interrupted Kurama. She nodded and followed him, mouthing a quick, 'sorry' to Kuwabara.

---------

So, that's how it went for an entire week.

She trained with her flying abilities with Genkai. She had actually gotten quite good, she flew almost everywhere now, except to school. Speaking of school, Kiya hadn't seen Brian since their whole little 'meeting' in the hallway. No teachers bothered her about it either, probably because none of them knew. Everyone who had witnessed the fight the other day kept their mouths shut, in fear of becoming Kiya's next 'victim'.

Kurama had been training her to harness her powers better. That blue wave that Kiya had sicked on Kuwabara the other day, remember that one? Yeah, now she was capable of harnessing that power and controlling it. She even gave it a name. Energy Wave. Yeah, I know, original, right? Anyways, they had also discovered her other powers. Kiya was able to manipulate water-which she wasn't very good at yet. She couldn't create water without liquefying a living thing, which was another thing she still needed to practice. She was still wearing gloves. She was not yet able to control when and where she turned a living thing to water, and Kurama didn't know how to get that part of her under control. The last power that Kurama had discovered was that she was able to send out energy in the form of a powerful blue orb from the palm of her hands. That was Kiya's favorite.

While everything was fine and dandy with Kurama and Genkai, Kiya couldn't say the same for Hiei's training sessions. Everyday, Hiei had gone out of his way to make Kiya sorer than the previous day. She didn't know what his problem was, but he seemed to _love_ beating Kiya up. And what pissed Kiya off the most, was that she couldn't kick his ass back. Sure, she had gotten way better with her speed and with a katana, but she was no match for Hiei. Not by a long-shot. But, what she could do, was fly. Yep, that was her means of revenge. Whenever Hiei had kicked her ass so badly and made her really mad, she would fly up above the trees-and stay there. Ooh, Hiei hated that. She refused to come down. One day, she made the mistake of flying to close too the top of the trees and Hiei had jumped off the top of the closest tree and tackled her in the air to the ground. Yeah, Kiya doesn't make that mistake anymore. She stays in the air until it's time to go home. It's quite funny actually. Not to Hiei, though.

(And, just between you and me…..she had begun to get sort of a crush on our little Jagan-bearing friend.)

To Kiya's surprise, one of their training sessions actually went some what well.

Hiei stopped suddenly in the middle of an attack. He sheathed his katana and looked Kiya straight in the eyes.

"Take your gloves off."

"What?"

"Do it onna." He growled, not liking her questioning him.

Hiei had been watching Kiya train with Kurama and noticed how much she had gotten her powers under control, and Hiei had a theory.

Kiya sighed at the death glare Hiei was giving her and reluctantly took off her gloves.

"Now what?"

Hiei pulled out a flower from behind his back and held it out to her.

"Aw, Hiei, thank you."

"It's not for you, baka. Touch it." He hissed.

Kiya pretended to be disappointed, even though a tiny part of her was, while the rest of her was deathly embarrassed.

Kiya had no clue where this was going. Hiei knew it was going to turn to water.

But, Kiya didn't want her head chopped off by and angry fire apparition, so she complied. She took the purple pedaled flower from Hiei's hand and waited for it to glow blue.

It didn't.

_What the…._ Kiya asked herself. Why wasn't it glowing? Why wasn't it turning to water? Why was Hiei just standing there?

It suddenly hit her, and she kicked herself for being too stupid to notice it sooner. She finally had control of herself! She could finally get rid of those blasted gloves! Sure, she liked them, but having them on for a straight week, anyone would be eager to get them off. Kiya was so overwhelmed with happiness that she suddenly found herself throwing her arms around Hiei's neck and saying "YAY! Thank you, Hiei."

(A/N oo, she's soo dead)

Hiei's eyes widened in surprise. What the hell was this onna doing!

_Wrap your arms around her, Hiei._

_WHAT!_

_You know you want to._

Hiei was so overwhelmed by the dilemma his sub-conscious mind was putting him through, that he found himself roughly pushing Kiya away from him.

Kiya, who was not at all expecting this, stumbled back a few feet before falling to the ground. She gaped at Hiei, her silver eyes full of confusion, shock, but the emotion that stood out most to Hiei, was hurt.

Kiya didn't know why she had hugged him, but she knew that she kind of liked it. And it hurt her to know that Hiei didn't.

Hiei, overtaken by all of the things happening in one day, took one more look at the girl on the ground, his eyes once wide were now once again their normal emotionless stare, and disappeared. Flitting away to go wherever, leaving the poor girl on the ground, confused, and hurt.

-------------------------

Since the training session with Hiei sort of ended early, Kiya went to the temple. She figured she could help Yukina with something. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Kiya were all planning on staying at Genkai's tonight because tomorrow was Saturday, and none of them had anything better to do. Thank god it was now fall break and they got 3 weeks off from school.

"Hey, Kiya, where's the shrimp?" asked Kuwabara as soon as Kiya had stepped into the temple.

"How the hell should I know? Im not his babysitter!" She growled then dissapeared into the kitchen.

"Wonder what he did to her.." pondered Yusuke. Kurama nodded in agreement while he was, himself, pondering the same question.

Kiya stomped into the kitchen to find a cheery Yukina cooking something. She smiled happily at Kiya while Kiya began to rummage through the freezer.

"Hello Kiya-chan."

"Hey Yukina." Said Kiya glumly, but her spirits soon picked up when she saw a carton of Cookies n' Crème ice cream in the very back. She pulled out the whole thing, grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer and sat, perched on the counter, with the tub in her lap, spoon in hand and a big grin on her face. "Yum."

Kurama, who had come in to the kitchen to see if Yukina would like any help with dinner saw Kiya sitting on the counter with an ice cream tub in her lap. _Hiei's _ice cream tub.

"Kiya, I would not eat that ice cream if I were you…" he started. Kiya stopped the spoon covered with ice cream 2 inches from her mouth and asked, "Why not?"

"Well, it's Hiei's and he's very protective of his….." Kurama's sentence was cut short by a black blur speeding into the kitchen and tackling Kiya off the counter to the floor. "…sweet snow."

"AAHH, HIEI! GET OFF!" Yelled Kiya from underneath Hiei, but she couldn't help but blush slightly at their position. Hiei grabbed the tub of ice cream from her hold and the spoon from her hand. Holding the tub of ice cream protectively, he got off of Kiya and glared at her. "Don't. touch. My. Sweet. snow." He hissed dangerously. Kiya got up off the floor and just as Hiei was about to put the- still- ice cream- covered spoon into his mouth, Kiya put her mouth over it, quickly consuming the ice cream, then running like hell into the living room.

"Onna.." Hiei growled coldly before he too disappeared into the living room.

Kurama chuckled at the sight of the two then turned his attentions back to what he and Yukina were cooking.

Kiya ran as quickly as she could into the living room. Hiei, right behind her, pinned her roughly to the wall with the tub of ice cream in one hand and his katana, which was now at Kiya's throat, in the other.

_Gee, this brings back memories._ She thought to herself about her first meeting with Hiei.

"Stay. Away. From. My. Sweet. Snow." Then he disappeared in a black blur and reappeared on the windowsill, eating the ice cream while all the time glaring at Kiya out the corner of his eye.

"Hey, Kiya. Back at school, when Brian asked you why you murdered your mom-what did he mean?" asked Yusuke, bringing up the one thing she'd hoped that they had forgotten. She closed her eyes and sat on the couch slowly, trying to think of the right way to tell them this. No matter how much she didn't want to bring up this soft subject, she felt like she sort of had too. Consider it a favor for all the times they had saved her sorry butt.

"Okay, well you all remember that my parents were murdered, right? And no one knows how?" she started, addressing everyone in the room (Kuwabara, Yusuke, Genkai, Hiei and now Kurama who had come out of the kitchen), leaving out the part of her vision and her _and_ Hiei seeing how her parents died.

Everyone except Hiei answered with either said 'yes' or nodded.

She continued. "Okay, well, that day when they were murdered, I was the only one seen entering that house. So, everyone just automatically assumed that I had done it. Me! I was 3 years old for Christ's sake and they still thought that I had murdered and mauled my own parents then hidden their remains! It's bullshit! So, to this day, everyone still thinks that I killed my parents, despite the lack of evidence." She finished, feeling weird. She had never told anyone that.

Yusuke was the first to recover from the sudden silence. "Wow, and they never put you in jail."

"Nope. They didn't have enough evidence to prosecute me. Plus, I was only 3 years old, that's too young of an age to be put away. But, that didn't stop everyone from accusing me, hating me and thinking that I was such a messed up kid that I would murder my own parents. I've had to live with that since."

"That's so sad." Said Yukina who had just come into the living room from the kitchen.

Kiya smiled reassuringly at Yukina and said, "Yeah, but at least _I_ know I didn't do it."

"Yeah, I don't think you killed them either." Said Yusuke.

"Me either!" came Kuwabara's reply.

"I never would've believed such a rumor in the first place." Kurama smiled sweetly.

Kiya looked over at Hiei who hadn't said anything. He had already finished off the tub of ice cream and was now looking out the window.

"Do you think I did it, Hiei?" Kiya asked, then realized it was a stupid question because Hiei had seen what really happened.

But Hiei's reply came nothing short of shocking. "Hn. What's your proof?"

……"What?" but, she stopped herself. She should've expected such a thing to come out of Hiei's mouth.

Yusuke and Kuwabara suddenly started yelling at Hiei about how Kiya was only 3 and how stupid he was being, but they soon shut up after receiving one glare on Hiei's part and his hand moving to the hilt of his katana.

"It's ok, guys. I should've known he would say something like that." She stood up, hurt apparent in her every word. Her every movement. "I'm going outside." And with that, she disappeared outside.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at the door where Kiya just stood, then left for the kitchen, muttering something about 'stupid midgets who cant keep their damn mouths shut.'

Kurama, however, stayed in the living room, looking at his old friend in confusion. "Why did you say that, Hiei?"

"Hn."

"I understand." He began to stand up and began to walk towards the kitchen. "You just don't know how to handle your feelings towards her. Don't worry, you'll get used to it sooner or later."

And with that, Kurama disappeared into the kitchen. Hiei was about to follow him to tell him off, but he decided against it, and returned to scowling out the window.

That damn kitsune was too wise for his own good.

-----------WITH KIYA-------------

Kiya sat on the roof, watching the sun set, her knees tucked up under her chin, her arms placed around them.

She had flown up there when she decided to go outside. She just needed some fresh air.

Why did Hiei say that? He knew perfectly well what had truly happened, he had seen it when he had intruded her thoughts.

That guy was so hard to understand and Kiya wasn't sure if she could put up with him much longer. She was now fully aware that she had what some people call a 'crush' on him, and she had NO clue why.

He was mean, rude, cold, distant, rough, mysterious, hot…………

Goddamnit! Why did her thoughts always shift that way?

She growled at herself while looking at the sunset, and suddenly, a song came to mind, and she started to softly sing the melody, her eyes closed and her body swaying to the beat. It seemed to fit her situation perfectly.

"I'm not supposed to be scared of anything,  
But I don't know where I am  
I wish that I could move but I'm exhausted  
And nobody understands (how I feel)

I'm tryin' hard to breathe now,  
But there's no air in my lungs.  
There's no one here to talk to  
And the pain inside is making me numb.

I try to hold this under control,  
They can't help me, cause no one knows.

Now I'm goin' through changes, changes.  
God, I feel so frustrated lately.  
When I get suffocated, save me.  
Now I'm goin' through changes, changes

Feelin' weak and weary  
Walkin' through this world alone  
Everything they say every word of it  
Cuts me to the bone, (and I bleed)

I've got something to say  
But now I've got nowhere to turn  
It feels like I've been buried  
Underneath all the weight of the world.

I try to hold this under control,  
They can't help me, cause no one knows.  
Now I'm goin through changes, changes  
God, I feel so frustrated lately

When I get suffocated, save me.  
Now I'm goin' through changes, changes

I'm blind and shakin', bound and breakin'  
I hope I'll make it, through all these changes.

Now I'm going through changes, changes  
God I feel so frustrated, lately  
When I get suffocated, save me.  
Now I'm falling apart, now I feel it.

But I'm going through changes, changes.  
God I feel so frustrated, lately.  
And I get suffocated, I hate this.  
But I'm going through changes, changes."

(A/N I don't own! It's a song called Changes by 3 Doors Down)

---------------WITH THE GANG INSIDE---------------

Everyone save Hiei and Genkai, who had left to run some errands not too long ago, was eating a delicious dinner in the dining room, compliments of Yukina. Hiei was still glaring out the window.

"AAAHHHHHH!" They all heard a familiar scream being emitted from the roof, and Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara ran quickly into the living room, just in time to see Hiei quickly disappear out the window, obviously in a hurry to see what had happened to Kiya.

If it weren't for his current situation, Kurama would've smiled knowingly, but now, everyone's priority was getting to the roof.

---------------------

Keep on Truckin'!

REVIEW!


	8. Chapter 8

Water and Fire 

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-----------------------------

Previously:

"AAAHHHHHH!" They all heard a familiar scream being emitted from the roof, and Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara ran quickly into the living room, just in time to see Hiei quickly disappear out the window, obviously in a hurry to see what had happened to Kiya.

If it weren't for his current situation, Kurama would've smiled knowingly, but now, everyone's priority was getting to the roof.

--------------------------------

Everyone quickly ran outside to see that Hiei had already jumped onto the roof.

They all began to file onto the roof in their own way.

----MEANWHILE WITH HIEI---

Hiei was quick to jump onto the roof, immediately having to dodge a large sword being brought down towards his head. The sword's holder was a large, red demon that stood about 9 feet tall. It was widely-built and had three horns sticking up from his forehead. It was a wonder it didn't fall through the roof.

Hiei quickly scanned the roof for Kiya to see that she was fighting off another one of these demons. Her hands were glowing with blue energy and she was punching the hell out of it, occasionally shooting out energy orbs. The demon was just standing there, holding his arms in front of his head in a defensive manner. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the demon was scared of the fury coming from such a small demon. But Kiya didn't care, she looked totally oblivious to everything but her and the demon.

After seeing that she could handle herself, and questioning why he even cared, Hiei turned his attentions ahead of him to see that two demons were advancing on him. Hiei calmly whipped out his katana and disappeared from the giant's view, moving quickly to behind them. Hiei jumped up into the air and brought his katana down on the head on one of the demons, successfully slicing off half of his head. It slumped to the ground in a bloody heap, and eventually fell off the roof, it's dead eyes staring straight ahead.

Hiei looked over to Kiya once again to see that the small teen now had the demon pinned to the ground with a glowing blue hand at his throat.

"Why are you here? Who sent you!" she demanded loudly.

"……Go….to….hell.." the demon managed to say despite the fact that he was being suffocated.

Hiei smirked slightly then returned his attentions to the other demon, who was standing on the edge of the roof, his arms crossed, and an evil grin on his face.

"No! Hell is where you're going if you don't tell me why you are here, NOW!" she yelled.

Kiya glared at the demon as she tightened her grip on it's clammy neck.

"M-markusho….Markusho sent…….m…" The demon stopped speaking and his head began to turn blue. Kiya took her hand from the demon and watched in horror as the demon's throat looked like it was starting to….implode.

Then, it's head rolled off, it's neck being totally crushed by nothing, and Kiya gasped in fear. She stood up and backed away from the demon and turned around to watch in wonder as Hiei fought the other demon.

That is, until the demon suddenly disappeared.

Hiei was ahead of Kiya by about 10 feet and the demon, who once stood in front of Hiei had disappeared. Kiya spun around behind her to see that demon now standing next to her, right behind Hiei, his hand pointing towards the unsuspecting fire apparition, a red energy engulfing it.

Kiya's eyes widened in horror as she realized what was going to happen.

-----------------

HA! I had you going there for a second, huh? Do not worry, my dear readers, for this is Not a cliffhanger.

Read on!

------------------

--------MEANWHILE, WITH KURAMA, YUSUKE, AND KUWABARA-----------

The three members of the Rekai Tantei never made it to the roof.

Instead, they were ambushed by three large, red demons like the ones that they had seen Hiei and Kiya fighting on the roof. They each took on one of them, after telling Yukina to hide inside.

The fight was going well, the demons weren't more than D class, at their best. They were all down within 5 minutes, and when that ten minutes was up, they all saw a demon's body falling from the roof, half of his head missing.

"EW!" yelled Kuwabara.

Yusuke was about to yell an insult to Kuwabara and laugh at him for being such a baby, when they all heard shouting coming from the roof.

"Oh no," Kurama stated when feeling a sudden increase in demonic energy coming from the roof. Then, they all saw a red light being erupted from the roof. They all watched, paralyzed by their wonder, unable to move.

------BACK TO HIEI AND KIYA------

Kiya's eyes widened in horror as she realized what was going to happen.

The demon was going to shoot Hiei!

The demon was seconds from attacking and Hiei was still oblivious to the fact that it was behind him.

Thinking as quickly as she could, Kiya yelled, "HIEI!" and flew to him as fast as she could. Hiei turned at the sound of his name just in time to be tackled to the ground by Kiya. As soon as Kiya and Hiei made contact, the demon released his energy. Kiya, who was in front of Hiei, received the blow instead, but the energy sent them both flying back 10 feet, almost falling off the edge of the roof. Hiei was surprised at the fact that he had allowed himself to wrap his arms protectively around Kiya as they were flying through the air.

Hiei looked over Kiya to the demon see that it had foolishly used the last bit of his energy, and dropped dead onto the ground.

"Hiei! What happened!" Yelled Yusuke from the ground.

Hiei looked down at the three on the ground and then back up at Kiya, who was still on top of him, her face buried in his chest.

"Get off of me, onna." He demanded, but Kiya didn't answer.

It was then that Hiei noticed that Kiya's breathing had gotten slower and more uneven. He looked to her back to see that the energy blast had ripped through her black t-shirt and her burnt and badly wounded back was exposed.

Hiei's eyes widened slightly as he realized that she was now unconscious, barely alive. That blast had been from the only B class demon in the pack that had attacked the temple, and that blast damn near killed Kiya. The blast that was made for Hiei. Kiya risked her life for him.

She had saved him.

(A/N everybody aw when I say …..ready? AWWWWWWWWWWW)

--------TWO DAYS LATER-------

Hiei had not once left Kiya's bedside at Genkai's temple, feeling all kinds of guilt, anger, and fury. He was currently yelling at himself while everyone else was down in the living room, being yelled at by Genkai about how she 'left for 5 minutes and when she comes back, there's dead demons everywhere and Kiya was almost dead…'

Hiei sat on the windowsill in Kiya's room, having yet another argument with himself.

_WHY DID SHE DO THAT? That blast could've killed her when I could've easily survived it._

_Kiya didn't know that. She thought you were in danger. She risked her life for you, Hiei._ His sub-conscious told him.

_That baka onna could've died! Im not worth that!_

_She obviously thinks you are._

Hiei looked over at the sleeping form on the bed, her blue hair in her face, the blanket pulled up to her head, covering her bandaged upper-body –where the bandage served as a shirt, covering everything. She was lying on her stomach, as to not irritate the large burn mark on her back. Yukina had done everything she could to heal the burn mark. So now, it was only about the size of Kiya's fist and it didn't hurt as much as it did when she had got it.

She hadn't moved from her position in two days.

Hiei looked up to see Kurama enter the room. "Please come downstairs, Hiei. You need to eat."

"Hn." And he turned his gaze back to the window.

"She's going to be fine, Hiei. I promise."

But Hiei wouldn't budge.

Kurama sighed in defeat and in worry for his friend, then disappeared into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he was sure Kurama was gone, Hiei once again looked at Kiya.

Who shifted to her side, mumbling something.

Was she finally waking up?

--------------KIYA'S POV-----------

I woke up to a stinging pain on my back. I opened my eyes and waited for my vision to clear, and while I was waiting, I could've sworn that a saw a black figure jumping out the window, disappearing outside.

Once I could see clearly, I sat up, the blanket falling from around me, to see that I was shirtless, but thank GOD I had bandages around my whole upper body, covering everything…ahem…important.

Then, I remembered everything. From the demons attacking the temple, to the demon I was fighting having it's head pop off for no apparent reason, to Hiei…

Oh, yeah.

The reason I was in this bed right now was because of him. Not that im mad at him, not at all. How could I be? It was my idea to jump in front of the blast in the first place.

I just hope he's okay.

--------NORMAL POV--------

Here Kiya was, lying in the bed she's been _recovering_ in for two days, thinking not about herself, but about someone else.

She stood up from her bed, stumbling a bit, but up-righting herself by gripping the wall. She saw a shirt on a chair by her bed, it was a black shirt, plain and simple. Wow, they knew her so well.

Kiya pulled it on over her bandages, careful not to irritate her wound, then walked out of the room, down the stairs and into the crowded living room.

Everyone looked at her in silent disbelief. How had she recovered so quickly?

"Wow, you're up early." Said Kurama, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I'm a fighter." She shrugged.

Kuwabara and Yusuke, having broken out of their 'stare' state of mind, quickly scrambled from their place against the wall and ran to. They were about to wrap their arms around her in a hug, when a raspy, old woman's voice stopped them.

"Her back, dimwits!"

The two stopped in their tracks and looked at Kiya, their eyes full of relief. She smiled at them and gave each of them a hug. They actually cared about her, she could see it in her eyes, and that lightened her spirits immediately.

She looked around the living room, her eyes lit up with happiness as they looked over everyone in the room.

Genkai, Yukina, Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara…..they all cared about her!

But, one person was missing. Hiei. The one person who played the biggest part in her life right now, the guy she had just risked her life for, was nowhere to be seen-and that confirmed her worst fear.

Hiei cared nothing for her, unlike she cared deeply for him. Deep enough to almost die to save his life. And he was not in the room. Typical.

Scattered 'welcome back to the world' and 'glad you're awake' and other remarks of the kind erupted from the room. However, Kurama stayed quiet. Sure, he was more than happy that she was okay, but he was being silenced by the sudden drop of her expression, and he knew exactly what was wrong. He stood up and walked over to her, summoning into the hallway so that they could talk in private.

Kiya followed him, her head drooped slightly, her thoughts taking over her current attention….that is, until Kurama spoke.

"He never left your side while you were unconscious."

Her head snapped up and she looked up into those emerald eyes, searching for the tiniest appearance of a lie.

There wasn't any.

"Then where is he now?"

"He probably left. Hiei just needs time to think. He blames himself for what happened to you and he hasn't eaten or slept since the attack."

Kiya's gaze dropped to the floor, deep in thought. Her and Kurama both looked to the window to see Hiei climing through it.

Kiya didn't see it, but Kurama saw it clearly. Hiei's eyes flashed dull, before he blinked and his eyes were normal again. Kurama recognized that look immediately. Kurama didn't know whether to smile or be the tiniest bit worried.

Hiei's mating season had begun.

(A/N I thought I'd bring that out a little earlier than expected, but not much will happen with it until the next chapter. Just thought I'd let you all know.)

Hiei froze when he saw Kiya. Kiya froze when she saw Hiei.

Wow, talk about awkward.

Hiei was the first to snap out of it and he decided that he and Kiya needed to talk, so he flitted over to her, grabbed her wrist, and flitted, with her in tow, to wherever Hiei chose to go. Kurama just returned to the living room.

-----WITH HIEI AND KIYA-------

Hiei ran into the hallway upstairs and when he stopped running, sure that no one would bother them, he pushed Kiya up against the wall, careful as to not hurt her wound too badly. He held her by her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

A feeling in the pit of Hiei's stomach began to grow, but he just had to push it back down. He knew what the feeling signified (1) and he didn't want to deal with that right now. Thank god his 'urges' weren't that strong when 'it' began. (2)

"Why." He growled the one word, his breath tickling Kiya's face.

"Why what?" she asked, although she knew perfectly well what he was talking about.

"Don't play stupid, onna."

"Okay, okay……..he was going to shoot you and you had your back to him. I would've felt guilty if I had just stood there while you had gotten hurt. So I jumped in front of you. How about you give a thank you?"

Hiei pushed harder on her, anger filling up. Kiya had to bite her bottom lip because of the pain of her wound.

"I don't need your help!" he coldly at her.

Kiya struggled to get out of his grasp, but he only pushed harder on her. "FINE!" She yelled back, beyond the point of hurt now that even after she saved his life, he thought nothing more of her than some baka onna. (A/N little does she know how wrong she is…….READER: shhhhh!) "Fine! You know what, I'm sorry that I saved your life, okay? I'm sorry that I thought that I could make you notice me by taking a blast for you. AND IM SORRY that I ever thought that I might actually care about you enough to risk my life for you! Now let me down!"

Hiei's eyes widened slightly from the emotion coming from this one girl. But then he returned to his normal stoic gaze and stepped away from her, looking once more into her almost teary eyes before disappearing, running away to go outside, where he could think in peace.

Kiya however, quickly ran into the room she woke up in and sat on the bed, her head in her hands. She yelled at herself.

"Stupid, Stupid, Stupid."

Little did she know that Hiei was thinking the same thing about himself.

--------HIEI'S POV---------

_Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! _

_Shut up!_

_WHY DID YOU SAY THAT TO HER!_

_Great, now I'm yelling at myself. I don't need this right now._

Hiei sat perched on a high branch in a tall Sakura tree, leaning against the trunk, one leg up and the other hanging down.

Why in the world had she done that? Hiei pondered this question like he had been for the past two days, and he always gets the same answer.

Because she cares about him.

Hiei didn't want to think that way. He was The Forbidden Child. No one is supposed to care about him, and he's not supposed to care about anyone in return, except for Yukina, but that was a different kind of 'care'

But Kiya didn't know that, and even if she did, Hiei got the impression that she wouldn't give a damn.

But now, Hiei had screwed it all up. Kiya was sure to hate him now.

And the thing that bothered him most about that:… was that he actually _cared_.

Oh yeah, his mating season had chosen the _perfect_ time to start. (sarcastic)

------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	9. Chapter 9

Water and Fire 

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

------------------------------

Previously:

But now, Hiei had screwed it all up. Kiya was sure to hate him now.

And the thing that bothered him most about that:… was that he actually _cared_.

Oh yeah, his mating season had chosen the _perfect_ time to start. (sarcastic)

-----------------------------

Chapter 9: Horny Fire Demons

It had been three days since Kiya's 'awakening' and since then, her back had been fully healed by Kurama's healing plants and a little help from Yukina, and that meant that she was up and runnin'. (Figure of speech)

But- that also meant that training had started again.

Oh joy.

Over the course of the three days, the Rekai Tantei along with Kiya went to go see Koenma to ask him how the hell the demons that had attacked the temple had gotten into Ningenkai.

--------FLASHBACK-------

"I don't know the details, but I do know that there seems to have been a wormhole in the barriers between the worlds, meaning one thing…" Koenma left the sentence hanging, and Kurama finished it for him.

"An illegal portal was opened for the sole purpose of sending demons into Ningenkai to attack Kiya."

"Exactally."

Kiya's eyes widened. She did not like this news. Not at all.

--------END OF FLASHBACK-------

Genkai refused to train Kiya anymore. She thought it was a waste of time to teach someone who already knew the material that was being taught, meaning that Kiya knew how to fly very well. Kiya didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or a put-down, but she didn't care. That meant no more crabby old women yelling at her to 'get her damn feet off the ground'.

Kurama had also ceased in teaching Kiya, for a while. He believed that Kiya knew enough to defend herself incase of an emergency, so he decided to take a little break.

Hiei, however, decided to keep putting Kiya through hell. But, he had been gone for the entire 3 days that Kiya was recovering, leaving right after his and Kiya's incident in the hallway.

No one save one person knew where he was and what he was doing. That one person who did know, was Kurama. From knowing Hiei for as long as he had, Kurama was almost psychic in the sense that he could find out everything about his friend, which got quite annoying after a while, as you can guess.

Kurama knew that Hiei was in the Makai, trying to cool down his 'urges' before he had to come back to train Kiya so he wouldn't do anything he would regret later.

By 'cool down' I mean by killing as many demons as he could and training himself to the point that he couldn't train any longer, just to keep his mind off the object of his 'demonly' desires.

Kiya.

-------------------------------

Hiei had come back so suddenly one day, sweaty, bloody and slightly short of breath, that it had everyone, even Kurama wondering.

But, that didn't stop the training session scheduled for today. Not at all.

As soon as Hiei got back to the temple, he went upstairs for about half an hour and came back downstairs, cleaned and with new clothes on consisting of a black tank top, black baggy pants, and boots- the usual.

Hiei looked at Kiya and walked out the back door leading to the forest, and Kiya knew that that meant that she was supposed to follow him. She could've sworn that when Hiei looked at her and after he quickly turned his gaze away from her, she saw him shake slightly. He visibly clenched his hands into fists, which made Kiya's eyebrows raise slightly from behind his back.

Then, they left out the back door, not to be seen for another 3 hours.

Everyone who sat in the living room (Yusuke fiddling with his buttons and occasionally throwing stuff at Kuwabara, Kuwabara who was continually flirting with Yukina, who had nothing better to do since Genkai was out in the forest meditating, and Kurama who was sitting in a chair, reading a historical novel-so like him)

They all sat in the living room for about an hour, before their peaceful relaxing was interrupted by a flying elemental.

"HE'S GONNA KILL ME!"

Kurama looked up from his book in time to see a wide-eyed Kiya flying as quickly as she could into the living room, screaming her head off, then diving behind Kurama, trying to hide behind him from whatever it was that was chasing her.

No one even needed to ask, because as soon as Kiya had flown behind Kurama, a very wet Hiei flitted into the room. The first thing Kurama noticed was his eyes.

Hiei's once focused and sharp crimson eyes were now clouded and swirling with a deep rustic hue.. That meant that Hiei was in 'heat' as some demons call it. Kurama would've helped Kiya, if it weren't for two things.

One: No one, I repeat, no one in their right mind would try to get between a 'heated' demon and his object of interest. NO ONE!

Two: Kurama was having too much fun watching Hiei chase someone around like an un-fixed, love-struck-puppy.

"Where. Is. She?" Hiei growled while using his fire powers to dry himself off. His dull yet cold gaze swept across the room until it came upon a patch of long blue hair coming from behind Kurama's chair, and he quickly disappeared and reappeared next to the chair, growling at it's hidden occupant.

"AHHHHHHH!" Kiya screamed, jolting from behind the chair and running like hell up the staircase, soon disappearing around the corner into the hallway, all the while flailing her arms wildly.

Hiei growled slightly louder then disappeared in a black blur running up the stairs and turning into the hallway.

"…you think we should help her? I mean, the shrimp looked like he was gonna murder her." Asked Kuwabara, looking up at Kurama for an answer.

"He wont kill her, Kuwabara, but he's most certainly kill you if you interfered. Just leave them be. Kiya will be fine." And he returned to his book.

From above, they heard. "AAAAHHHHHH-'_thump_'oof!"……………'_SLAM'………………'THUMP'_

"…ookkkaaayyy. You sure we shouldn't help her. We should at least make sure she's still alive."

"Im sure, Yusuke."

…………..

(A/N Now how about we enjoy this in Kiya's and Hiei's POV?)

………….

After Kiya had followed Hiei out the door they immediately walked to a different clearing in the forest. (Their normal one was being occupied by Genkai, who was meditating) This one had a plain and in the middle of the plain, there was a medium sized lake, with on big rock off to the side of it. Hiei immediately pulled out his katana and Kiya pulled out hers, and took a fighting stance over on the rock. She felt powerful on the rock, as funny as that may sound, so she stood on it.

Hiei avoided making eye contact with Kiya, which annoyed her and made her very curious, but before she had a chance to ask, Hiei disappeared and came up on Kiya's right, bringing his sword down above her head, which Kiya blocked.

Hiei then immediately disappeared and reappeared behind Kiya and went to strike her, when she ducked and turned swiftly, swinging her sword at his calves.

She gasped when Hiei didn't move. Instead he just stood there, his eyes slightly widened, and got a swift blade across his shins. He didn't even flinch.

What Kiya didn't know, was that Hiei was paralyzed by a growing urge within him, and when he had gotten close enough to Kiya to be able to smell her, that urge got even stronger. Almost too strong for Hiei to bear. What he had smelled on her had almost taken him over the edge.

She was in her 'heat cycle'.

_This is all happening to me on purpose, damnit!_ Hiei thought to himself.

Hiei cursed under his breath as he felt something scratch his shins. He didn't flinch, but he was taken out of his daze. Those empty eyes looked back at Kiya as Hiei disappeared and reappeared behind her, too quickly for her to notice.

As soon as she turned around, a blade met her collar bone-area. The katana didn't swipe her deeply, but just enough to cut open that part of her shirt to show a red liquid now freely falling from the 5-inch long gash.

Ohh, Hiei was out of it now. The sight and smell of Kiya's blood had set him off….quickly. (A/N think of a shark, it's eyes going all black when they smell blood, but Hiei's eyes go red.)

Kiya ran a hand across her wound, which left a smear of blood on her finger tips. Out of habit, she raised her hand to her mouth and was about to lick the blood off, when she was suddenly tackled to the rock by a speeding black blur.

Hiei immediately pressed his lips forcefully on Kiya's, making her eyes widen. His hands trailed possessivly to her waist and he held her firmly to the ground while he continued to kiss her.

Kiya, who was now panicking that Hiei may have finally gone totally insane, looked around for any way that she could get Hiei off of her. She saw that she was about five inches from the edge of the rock, and over the edge was the lake. If Kiya could just roll over and send Hiei into the water, that would give her enough time to get away before he came to kill her for getting him wet.

Kiya was hesitant for a moment about her plan, positive that Hiei hadn't read her mind because he was too 'occupied'. But, her mind was made when Hiei's tongue had managed to brush across her bottom lip, demanding entrance. He had just taken it too far.

But he didn't mean to. Unknown to Kiya, Hiei was fighting, and pretty much losing a fight with his inner demon to make himself stop before she got hurt. He didn't even know why he cared whether or not she got hurt, but he did. Deeply. However, the demon in him wouldn't listen, it wanted Kiya, and there was no way that Hiei could stop it. He couldn't control himself or his enormous desire for Kiya. He had to have her, NOW.

Kiya tried to roll to the side, but a growl being emitted by Hiei made her stop. He was tensed up and there was only way that Kiya knew of to get him to even the slightest bit relax.

She kissed him back. Hiei, who was obviously taken by surprise, was evidently content that she had decided to give in that he put even more force behind the kiss. He was so caught up, that he didn't even notice that Kiya had turned to her side and he was now falling of the edge of the rock and into the lake. As soon as his possessive hands had left her waist, Kiya quickly took off, flying towards the temple, knowing that a good head-start was all that mattered besides speed in this situation.

Hiei, who was now sitting up in the shallow water, soaked, had to take a moment to snap out of his daze, growl loudly, then disappear in a black blur to chase Kiya.

Kiya flew as fast as she could in to the living room screaming, "HE'S GONNA KILL ME!" She dived behind Kurama's chair and held her breath, praying that Hiei wouldn't find her.

Some good that did. As soon as Kiya had flown behind Kurama's chair, a very pissed Hiei appeared in the room and demanded, "Where. Is. She?" He dried himself off before seeing Kiya's hair and appearing by the chair, glaring down at the frightened Kiya. She got up and ran screaming up the stairs, only to have Hiei follow her into the hallway and tackle her to the ground again, hence the 'thump. "oof." Hiei was on top of her back and he began to roughly kiss her neck, pushing aside the hair that got in the way.

Kiya reached behind and smacked Hiei's head, and he stopped for a moment, which was long enough for Kiya to scramble to her feet and run into the room that she had slept in while she was recovering and she quickly 'SLAM'ed the door shut, not noticing the burst of wind rushing into the room before it was too late. Kiya locked the door and sighed in relief. She turned around…to come face to face with an angry fire demon.

Kiya braced herself for Hiei yelling at her and closed her eyes, sort of cowering in the corner against the door. But, the yelling never came. Kiya opened her eyes to see that Hiei was just standing there, hands up against the door on wither side of her head, staring at her intensely. She wanted to know what was going on, so she opened her mouth to ask, but was silenced by Hiei pressing his body against hers and him slipping his tongue into her mouth before she had a chance to close it.

He was waiting for her to open her mouth!

Hiei fought harder with himself to try to get himself to stop. He only succeeded a little and made himself slow down the kiss, but he couldn't break himself away from her. He was almost starting to enjoy himself.

Kiya, feeling the sudden change in Hiei's demeanor, couldn't help but start to enjoy the kiss as well. I mean, she did like the guy right? Maybe this meant that Hiei liked her back, he just didn't know how to take it slow. So, Kiya started to kiss back and she couldn't help it when she wrapped her arms around his neck-_ What the hell am I Doing! _She heard Hiei moan slightly.

……_.This is what I wanted, right?_

Hiei suddenly felt himself wanting…..no…….needing the taste of Kiya's blood in his mouth. The blood of his- -hopefully-- future mate.

Kiya snapped out of her daze when she felt Hiei's fangs run themselves along her bottom lip and bite it, braking the sensitive skin and causing a metallic taste to fill her mouth. Hiei also tasted her blood, which just sent him even further into ecstasy.

At the taste of Kiya's blood, Hiei lost any control he might've had and he pressed his body harder against her's causing her to be pushed into the door more. Kiya immediately stopped enjoying herself. Now she was worried, even a little frightened.

The only thing Hiei could hear from behind the wall forcing him to sit back and let his demonic side take over, was Kiya's whimper.

It was soft and quiet, but it was there, and Hiei recognized the meaning behind it immediately.

Kiya was afraid. Afraid of him.

Hiei felt himself raising his hand, claws ready to scratch Kiya's neck, therefore marking her and claiming her as his, when he summoned all of his self control and broke through the barrier that kept him from controlling his body. He did not want to make Kiya do anything she didn't want to do, and that meant becoming Hiei's mate against her will. At that moment, when he decided that, he was suddenly aware of the feelings he had for her, and the only desire he _truly_ had for her was not to hurt her. He wanted her, sure, but he wasn't going to make her be his. He lowered his hand immediately and stepped away from Kiya, having her lean over and try to catch her breath, while Hiei found himself also panting slightly.

Kiya looked up at Hiei, who looked at her in return, concern evident in his once-stoic eyes.

_What happened to you Hiei?_ She found hers asking herself.

'_I lost control.'_ Came his voice in her head, startling her (A/N remember that Kiya doesn't know about Hiei's Jagan.)

She backed up into the corner, her eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Hiei cursed himself for ever doing this to Kiya. Now he had to make it up to her, no matter how much he didn't want to, if he ever wanted her to ……….he stopped his thoughts before they got so far that he'd lose control again.

Hiei looked at Kiya again, having to ball up his hands into tight fists to keep his demon side under control at the very sight of her.

Kiya saw this and brought up enough courage to ask, "W-what is happening to you?"

Hiei saw the hurt in her eyes, and he felt compelled to answer. "I lost control." He repeated quietly, as if saying it too loudly would scare her away.

"Lost control of what?" Kiya was losing her patience. She wanted to know why Hiei attacked her and she wanted to know now.

"Myself." And in her mind, he said, _'My desire to have you.'_ Hiei widened his eyes at the fact that he had actually said something like that. Why was he explaining himself to her! He was just so pissed off at himself and confused right now.

Why was he feeling the way he was?

What was that?

Regret?

That's a ningen emotion! He promised himself that he would never feel a ningen emotion, telling himself that it was a waste of energy and focus. He was just so angry about everything that he had just let himself do, from his actions to the things that came out of his mouth, that he turned suddenly and punched the wall, sending debris flying everywhere and leaving a large chunk of the wall missing.

Kiya watched in horror as he did this, and then as he turned to her and whispered hoarsely, "Tell no one of this." And then he disappeared out her window.

He grimaced on his way out to the forest. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh.

Kiya was even more confused than Hiei. She didn't know about mating seasons and how they could turn even the nicest of guys into the most blood-thirsty, woman-crazed people in the three worlds. It almost seemed a coincidence that Hiei was never nice to begin with, and that's why he was even more out of control than the next demon.

Kiya slid to the floor, thinking.

_I should be mad at him. NO, I should be pissed off beyond all reason at him! Why aren't I?_

_Because deep inside you, you know that he didn't mean to harm you and that he didn't have control over his actions.! He stopped, didn't he?_

_Yeah, but after attacking me and forcing me to kiss him!_

_Kiya, he didn't have control over himself. It's his mating season and his previous feelings towards you nearly drove his desires for you further than they normally would've been if he had felt nothing for you before all of this. It was the demon in him that took control. You should harbor no hard feelings towards him. Hiei felt something for you, and he felt it so strongly that he was able to take over his body once again so he wouldn't hurt you._

_How do I know you aren't lying?_

_Why the hell would I lie to **myself**?_

Kiya just absently nodded her head, agreeing with herself.

She understood now, that Hiei never meant her harm, and she cursed herself for ever believing he would.

Kiya stood, deciding that it would be best if she just forgot everything that had just happened, when a thought suddenly came to mind.

Hiei had almost marked her. She knew about demons marking their mates.

Wait……then didn't that mean that Hiei wanted her to be………

Her thoughts were interrupted by yelling coming from downstairs. She quickly opened the door and flew downstairs to see what the commotion was about.

-----------------------

Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	10. Chapter 10

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-------------

Previously:

Kiya stood, deciding that it would be best if she just forgot everything that had just happened, when a thought suddenly came to mind.

Hiei had almost marked her. She knew about demons marking their mates.

Wait……then didn't that mean that Hiei wanted her to be………

Her thoughts were interrupted by yelling coming from downstairs. She quickly opened the door and flew downstairs to see what the commotion was about.

-------

**Chapter 10:**

Kiya flew into the living room to see………..Kuwabara and Yusuke fighting over a soda.

"DAMNIT URAMESHI, I HAD IT FIRST!"

"SO! DON'T YOU THINK YOU COULD LIVE ONE DAY WITHOUT SODA? I HEARD THAT SODA DESTROYS BRAIN CELLS, SO I SUGGEST YOU HAND OVER THE DR. PEPPER AND SAVE WHAT LITTLE BRAIN CELLS YOU HAVE LEFT, YOU BIG OAF!"

"GUYS, SHUT UP!" Yelled a small but intimidating Kiya from the stairs. They both froze and watched Kiya with wide eyes as she flew over to them and snatched the soda.

Kiya flew over to the windowsill as Yusuke and Kuwabara both yelled, "HEY!"

Kiya just stuck her tongue out at them and popped the top open. She then brought the can to her lips and downed almost half the can before stopping and gasping, the familiar bubbling sensation running through her nose.

"THAT WAS MY SODA!" Yelled Kuwabara. Kiya licked the top of the can then held it out to Kuwabara as if to say, 'want it now?'

Kuwabara held up his hands in defeat. Apparently he didn't. His attentions soon turned to the small girl walking into the room accompanied by Genkai and he called out, "Yukina, my love!" and he ran over to her.

Kiya looked down at her can, listening to the swishing of the liquid inside of it as she thought of recent events.

She suddenly turned to Kurama and said, "Hey, I think I'm going to go home."

He looked at her and nodded. "I'll be going with you, then. In fact, Yusuke and Kuwabara need to go home as well. They've stayed here a lot longer than the original week that they promised their families."

Kiya nodded and turned to the 'geniuses' while getting off the windowsill. "Hey, we're going home. Come on."

On her way to the door, Kiya thanked Genkai for letting them all stay at her temple and train and they all bowed respectfully before filling outside to walk home.

-------------AT KIYA'S APPARTMENT----------

Kiya sat in her living room on her couch, listening to her Green Day (don't own) CD, writing in a black book that she had found in the mall a while back when she lived in it. She had grown attached to the small book, so she even gave it a name. Blaze.

The entry goes as follows:

**I don't know what to think anymore, Blaze. So many things are happening all at once, and all I can think about is Hiei. I keep on wondering why he attacked me today. My sub-conscious told me it was his 'mating season', if that even makes sense…….. See? Im losing it! Im listening to my self-conscious! I feel so confused right now. First, he kissed me, then he left…again. I wish I could leave my prolems, just like he does. But I cant.**

**I wish my parents were alive right now. They'd know how to comfort me. They'd tell me that everything was okay and help me wake up from this nightmare. Hiei and Kurama just seem so…….'okay' with everything. Makai, Ningenkai, Rekai and demons. But, I guess that's because that's all they've ever known. Me, on the the other hand, all I had ever known up until about 4 weeks ago had been the human world. Now, I know about Makai and Rekai as well. Demons, spiritual energy, Yusuke having died, TWICE! This is all too much.**

**I need someone to talk to. No offense, Blaze. I mean, you are great to write things down in, but I need someone to actually talk to. Someone who can reassure me that everything will be okay. **

………**.I need to go.**

Kiya closed her book hurriedly and went into her room to change out of the pajamas that she had changed into as soon as she had gotten to her apartment. She decided that she knew exactly who to talk to.

Rob.

She glanced at the clock to see that it was 9:00 pm. The restaurant was still open right now. She figured that she could fly there, because it was dark and if she managed to stay high enough, she could get there un-seen.

She changed into baggy camouflage pants with a studded belt, a black t-shirt with a pentacle on it (A/N PENTACLES ARE NOT SATANIC! I hate it when people try to tell me that they're satanic.) and her long black coat over it. On her feet were none other than her combat boots.

She walked out of her apartment and began to fly to the restaurant, careful to stay high enough as to not be seen by the civilians walking or driving on the street below. Kiya dove into the forest right across the street from the restaurant and walked out of it…..to see numerous cop cars and one ambulance parked outside the entrance.

_Oh, Kami, no. Please, no._

Kiya ran up to one of the police officers. "Sir, what happened?"

He turned to her and began to push her away from the restaurant. "Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to step back."

"MY UNCLE OWNS THIS RESTAURANT!"

At this, the police officer stopped pushing her and his eyes softened.

"Oh boy. Listen, kid, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but, you're uncle, Rob Haruko, was shot earlier today. It was an unmotivated shoot-out in the restaurant. He-uh, he didn't make it."

Kiya's eyes stayed dull. It had to be a joke. Not so many bad things could happen to a person in one day….it wasn't possible.

And yet, the look on the police officer's face said it was.

Kiya's eyes immediately teared up and the police officer looked sympathetic. She shook her head and looked pleadingly into the police officer's eyes, silently begging him to take it back. To tell her it wasn't true, that the one man who had been her only source of comfort for 13 years was still alive and this was all a big joke. But he didn't.

Another cop came over to the cop that Kiya was talking to and pulled him aside to talk to him for a moment, but he motioned for Kiya to stay put.

After all the years of thinking she was alone, she was now sure of it. Rob was gone. Forever. Kiya suddenly dropped her head and allowed herself to do the thing she swore she would never, EVER do.

She cried.

The cop that Kiya was talking to suddenly came back over to Kiya, with a very stern looking face on. Kiya looked up at him and he suddenly turned Kiya around and grabbed her wrists, hand-cuffing them behind her back.

"Miss, you are under arrest for the murder of Rob Haruko,"

"What?" Kiya yelled at him while he began to recite to her her rights, but Kiya wasn't paying attention to him. She was looking at the cop that had talked to the cop she talked to. He was talking to a tall, blonde boy, pointing and nodding at Kiya, and she could hear three words that he said clearly. "She did it,"

Kiya's eyes widened as the cop thanked the boy and the boy turned around, looked at Kiya and grinned evilly at her.

That boy, was Brian.

Kiya was then taken over and shoved roughly into a cop car. Kiya turned around in her seat in the back of the police car, to look back at Brian, who was still evilly grinning at her.

Why did Kiya's life have to be so fucked up?

----------------------

The police man had taken Kiya down to their station in downtown Tokyo and he had immediately taken off her handcuffs and shoved her into an empty cell.

Kiya sat in the far corner, knees pulled up under her chin, she was crying uncontrollably.

First, she was blamed for the death of her parents. And now, she was being blamed for Rob's death, and she wasn't even there when it happened! All the police had against her was the witness-statement from a certain blonde haired teenager named Brian who had set her up for the sole purpose of getting revenge on the girl who had kicked his ass in front of half the school.

She had asked if she got a phone call, like all the prisoner's in the movies got, but the police man just laughed at her, so she just sat in her cell, face in her knees, pleading to god-if there was one- to kill her. To just make her life end right now. Now that Rob was dead, she didn't have much more to live for.

Without knowing it, Kiya dozed off.

_**Kiya opened her eyes to see that she was in Rob's restaurant. She was sitting up at the bar and Rob was behind the bar, washing some cups.**_

"_**Don't blame yourself, honey." He said, stopping what he was doing to look at Kiya.**_

"**_How can I not blame myself, Rob? There's no doubt you were killed by a youkai just because you were close to me. If I were never alive, you would still be and you would be happy. Everyone I know would be happy."_**

"**_Aw, now that's not true. Kiya, don't you ever think like that. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been the happy old man I was, I would've been bitter and alone because I would've have had the best niece in the world."_**

"**_Who killed you, Rob?"_**

_**Rob looked troubled by this, but Kiya needed to know, so she asked again, "Who Killed you, Rob?"**_

_**Suddenly, Kiya's dream began to fade away, and Kiya yelled, "No! Rob, don't leave me again! PLEASE!"**_

"_**Im sorry, Kiya. I love you."**_

_**Then the dream ended.**_

"I love you too, Rob." She muttered quietly under her breath. Kiya looked up from her knees to the sound of her squeaky cell door opening.

What she saw made her rise to her knees. The person that the cop was letting into her cell was Yusuke.

Yusuke quickly went to her and pulled Kiya into a brotherly hug. "Kiya, im so sorry."

Kiya just nodded and returned the hug, digging her head into Yusuke's chest.

"Get a room." Came Kuwabara's voice from behind Yusuke. He was trying to be funny, but no one was laughing.

"Kuwabara, now is not the time for jokes." Came Kurama's caring voice.

Kiya pulled away from Yusuke and she looked into his eyes. "Rob's dead, they think I did it…….i don't know what to do, Yusuke." Yusuke once again pulled her into a hug and said, "I know, c'mon, let's get you outta this place." Kiya nodded again and walked out of her cell, clinging to Yusuke's arm. While walking through the police station, Kiya received many nasty looks, and a couple whispers that said, 'Look, it's the girl that killed her family,' and 'it's the psychotic 16 year old murderer'.

She looked up to Kurama after they had gotten out of the building and asked, "How did you convince them to let me out?"

"Hiei has incredible…..persuasive abilities. He got you out, not us." Kurama smiled down at her and she could've sworn that she saw a hint of gold in his eyes before he looked away.

Kiya nodded and faced ahead again. So, Hiei had gotten her out….but where was he? Why wasn't he here?

_It's because he doesn't want to force himself on you again._

_Will you stop popping up like that? Cant I have a moments peace inside my own head?_

_Yeesh, so-rry!_

And her thoughts suddenly got quiet.

Yusuke and the others took her back to her apartment.

"Are you sure you don't want at least one of us to stick around? I mean, after what just happened, I figured that you could use some company."

"No, it's ok Yusuke, go home. I'll be fine."

"Okay, good night Kiya."

"Night, Yusuke."

Kiya closed her front door with a sigh and closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the cold surface, loving the release it provided for her from her thoughts. She didn't want to think about….things, because she didn't want to cry again. Rob wouldn't have wanted her to cry, he would've wanted her to be strong, to be………….aw, crap. Now she was crying again.

Kiya turned around to go to bed, when she saw a black figure sitting at her windowsill. She gasped in surprise and tried frantically to dry off the tears that had fallen down her face.

"H-hiei, how'd you get in here."

"Hn." Was all he said as he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Kiya in an instant. She gasped. _Oh, god, Hiei, please be sane now._

She didn't know what came over her, but she suddenly found herself wrapping her arms around Hiei, seeking his warmth, seeking his comfort.

Hiei stood still. What was this onna doing? Hiei had to clench his fists to keep himself under control at the mere smell of her. Didn't she learn her lesson? Didn't she realize he was not safe to be around right now? When Kiya finally realized that Hiei wasn't going to hug her back, she let him go and began to walk away from him. She said, "Sorry. I don't kno……" Hiei grabbed her wrist, making her shut up.

She looked back at him and into those crimson orbs and he had to quickly look away before his thoughts could ……….roam.

Hiei pulled Kiya to the couch and sat her down, he looked down at her, keeping his fists balled up tight.

"H-how did you convince them to let me out of jail."

There it was. The question of the night, and Hiei had to answer it. She had a right to know. But Hiei wasn't going to tell her how, he was going to _show_ her.

Hiei began to untie the bandana on his forehead, while Kiya just sat and watched.

Hiei let the bandana drop to the ground and he looked into Kiya's eyes, and stated simple instructions. "Whatever happens, don't move."

Hiei closed his eyes and that's when Kiya saw the slit on Hiei's forehead. She nearly fell backwards when the slit opened to reveal a purple eye.

"I said don't move." He growled and Kiya sat still, still staring at his Jagan eye. Hiei reaches out his hand and gently places his fingertips onto Kiya's forehead. Immediately, they were both thrown into Kiya's memories.

_Kiya's memories:_

_She walked out of her apartment and began to fly to the restaurant, careful to stay high enough as to not be seen by the civilians walking or driving on the street below. Kiya dove into the forest right across the street from the restaurant and walked out of it…..to see numerous cop cars and one ambulance parked outside the entrance. _

_**Oh, Kami, no. Please, no.**_

_Kiya ran up to one of the police officers. "Sir, what happened?"_

_He turned to her and began to push her away from the restaurant. "Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to step back."_

"_MY UNCLE OWNS THIS RESTAURANT!" _

_At this, the police officer stopped pushing her and his eyes softened._

"_Oh boy. Listen, kid, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but, you're uncle, Rob Haruko, was shot earlier today. It was an unmotivated shoot-out in the restaurant. He-uh, he didn't make it."_

Hiei decided to change the pace and they entered one of _his_ memories.

_Hiei watched as Kiya was taken into the police car, anger welling up inside of him. He glared at Brian, the boy that had set Kiya up. Hiei wanted nothing more than to make his life miserable, maul him until he was barely alive, then leave him to die, Koemma couldn't send him to prison for that. But Hiei instead followed the police car._

_When they arrived at the station, Hiei watched from a window as they threw Kiya into a cell and she immediately curled up in a corner. After a while, Kiya began to sleep._

_Hiei went to go retrieve Kurama, but he just HAD to bring the bakas with him. Hie took them back to the police station and showed them that Kiya was there and told Kurama in his mind what happened._

_Kurama nodded and the three of them walked into the station. From the window, Hiei removed the bandana around his forehead and his Jagan eye opened as his two other eyes closed, Altering the thoughts of the police man the three were talking to. The police man emptily nodded and opened Kiya's cell door. Yusuke entered it and that's when Kiya woke up. Hiei flitted away._

Hiei tried to take his hand from Kiya's forehead, but he couldn't. It's like it was glued there, and they both began to enter another one of Hiei's memories. Well, actually, there was about 5 different memories floating around in front of them, like large TVs floating.

Then, it hit him. Kiya was doing this. Somehow, she had managed to take the connection between them and swing it her own way. She wanted to know about _his_ past.

_The first one they saw was of Hiei on an operating table, screaming in pain. Hiei could feel Kiya tense a little bit. Kiya saw that they were implanting that third eye on Hiei's forehead._

_As soon as that memory had come it ceased and was replaced with another one. This one was of a child. Just a little infant, with glowing red eyes. They didn't see what was happening to him at first, because he was enveloped in darkness, but as the memory soon cleared up, they saw that the baby was falling. He had just been cast off a cliff……_

Hiei had had enough. Reliving these painful memories was almost as bad as going through them the first time. Summoning all the power he had, he was able to break out of Kiya's connection, which sent him back to reality and he snatched his hand from Kiya's forehead immediately, making him slightly stumble.

Kiya's eyes, however, were still closed, but Hiei could see that she was visibly cringing. A glowing blue light was being emmited from her forehead. She soon began to scream in pain.

"AHHH! HIEI MAKE IT STOP!" she whimpered through her tears of pain as she clutched her forehead and fell onto the floor. Hiei was soon by her side, picking her up bridal style. But Kiya still held her forehead and when Hiei picked her up, she only screamed louder. Hiei didn't know what was going on, so he had to get her to Koenma's….fast.

That's when Kiya passed out, falling limp in the fire apparition's arms.

--------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	11. Chapter 11

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

------------------------------

Previously:

"AHHH! HIEI MAKE IT STOP!" she whimpered through her tears of pain as she clutched her forehead and fell onto the floor. Hiei was soon by her side, picking her up bridal style. But Kiya still held her forehead and when Hiei picked her up, she only screamed louder. Hiei didn't know what was going on, so he had to get her to Koenma's….fast.

That's when Kiya passed out, falling limp in the fire apparition's arms

-----------------------------

"Master Markusho, it is almost time." A tall blue youkai said to a figure who sat, dressed in a black cloak on a throne.

"That it is, Lutuko. Send for the elementals.. I believe it's time we had a little….talk."

-----------------------------

**Chapter 11: Ugh, Girl Time**

Hiei along with Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara barged into the Palace's infirmary where the still unconscious Kiya lay on a small bed, Koenma and Yukina were at her side.

Hiei marched up to Koenma, who was in his toddler form, and grabbed the collar of his shirt roughly and brought him up to his face.

"What. Is. Going. On?" Hiei growled in the scariest voice ever heard coming from the small fire apparition's mouth.

"P-put me down Hiei." Hiei dropped him and Koenma stumbled a bit before floating. "It seems that someone has contacted Kiya-" he was cut off by a whimper and a shift in her position by Kiya. Koenma continued while looking at Kiya. "Whoever it is that has the hold on her mind is showing her a vision. By the look on Kiya's face we can tell that it is not a pleasant one." Just then, a screen popped down from the ceiling. "Ah, here it is. This screen will show us what's going on in her mind. What she's seeing."

The screen turned on and what the group saw had everyone's save Hiei's jaw drop. A low growl was being emitted from him instead.

-------------------------

There Kiya was, in the middle of a field. Or-what was left of one.

Bodies were scattered everywhere, and most of them were recognizable. They were all surrounding Kiya, making some-what of a circle around her. Kiya was visibly hurt. She looked at a body-it's red hair falling limply around it's owner's face. Kiya crouched down and brushed aside the hair, revealing the pale face of Kurama. Blood trickled down the side of his face from a large wound on his forehead.

--------------------------

Kurama's eyes widened.

--------------------------

They all watched as Kiya's eyes began to tear and she soon turned her attentions to the bodies behind her. Yusuke's, Kuwabara's. Koenma's, Botan's, Yukina's, Genkai's and Keiko's. Kiya just stood there, not knowing what to do. All of her friends had died. She didn't know how, but they were all here, lying on the ground, dead. All but one.

"Looking for _this?_" Came a harsh deep voice as it hissed the word 'this' form behind Kiya. Kiya turned around slowly to see the familiar fire elemental dressed in black pants, a crimson shirt and a long red cape on as he looked at Kiya with piercing yellow eyes and tossed a body to the ground. Kiya's eyes fell from the elemental's face to the body on the ground at his feet. It had it's back to Kiya, it's usually tall black hair now falling limply on the ground, it's black tank top ripped and pants bloody.

"HIEI!" Kiya yelled as she quickly ran to the body and turned it over, to see that Hiei was still barely alive. Blood ran freely down the side of his face and neck.

Hiei's crimson orbs looked up into Kiya's silver ones……….and time froze. (A/N in Kiya's mind, not in real life)

Kiya was not frozen however, which confused her. The elemental in front of her cleared his throat to show that he too had not been affected by the time freeze.

"This has just been a brief showing of what is in your future, Kiya." He spoke.

She looked up at him and hissed, "What did you do?"

"It's not what _I_ did, Kiya, but what you did not."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that this is what will happen if you do not give in to your destiny and join me."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jasaro. I am the Elemental of Fire and one of the four future rulers of the world." He leaned down and grabbed Kiya by the wrist and pulled her to her feet. He then snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her roughly to him and he spoke softly into her ear.

------------------

If it weren't for the fact that everyone in the room was too busy paying attention to the screen, they would've heard a low growl sprouting from Hiei.

------------------

Jasaro's breath tickled Kiya's neck as he spoke, making her shudder. "And your future mate, Kiya-koi."

At this comment, Kiya ripped herself out of Jasaro's arms and backed away from him. "WHAT? I REFUSE!"

"It's not a choice for you to make, Kiya. Besides, when the world is ours, im sure I will be able to change your feelings towards me. But im afraid that I must leave you for now. I will be back, I promise."

That's when Jasaro turned to face the screen, looking directly into the eyes of the Rekai Tantei, "You cant hide her. No matter how hard you try. She will be mine and there's nothing you can do to stop it." He stood there for a moment glaring straight into the eyes of Hiei, who glared right back. Then, the screen went blank and Kiya shot up, gasping for air and sweating profusely.

Everybody looked at her sympathetically and she glanced around at everyone, then at the screen. She knew what that meant.

"You guys saw everything, didn't you?"

"Yes we did," said Koenma.

Kiya sighed and said, "Is it true what he said, is that really what's going to happen if I don't join them?"

Koenma was silent for a moment and said, "There's no way to really know."

Kiya nodded.

"Uh, Kiya, due to recent events, I believe that it would be best if you moved in with Genkai for a while. You'd be safer there than you are at your apartment."

It wasn't Kiya who objected, but Yusuke instead. "WHAT? Grandma will put her through hell! Besides, im right next door to her apartment, don't you think she'd be safe there, too?"

Koenma paused and said, "No."

Yusuke got a sweatdrop.

Kiya was so caught up in everything right now that she didn't even argue.

------------------------

Kiya was at her apartment, packing all her important belongings, when a knock came from her front door.

She walked over to the door and opened it, so see….

Botan, Keiko and Yukina.

"Hello, Hello, Kiya!" said Botan in her cheery voice that made Kiya always want to back away from her slowly, as she and the other two walked in through her door.

"Come on in." Kiya mumbled to herself, closing the door behind them. "Okay, you all came here for a reason, what is it?"

"Well…..since school's still out and you have to go to Genkai's tomorrow, we figured we could have a girl's night and take you over to Genkai's in the morning!" Stated Keiko.

Yukina and Botan nodded in agreement.

"Oh…..that's nice of you guys, it really is, but I think I'd rather be alone right now…." Botan interrupted her.

"Nonsense! What you need now is company. Come on, it'll be fun! We could watch movies, give eachother make-overs and….."

"Woah, woah, hold on. I do Not do the whole make-over thing."

"Okay…….I guess that means we're watching a movie, then. Yukina, get the popcorn."

Kiya watched as the three of them made themselves rriigghhtt at home. I mean, Kiya did appreciate them caring and all, but what she needed right now was some time to think.

---oh well. The way her life was going, Kiya figured she would never get another chance like this. So she plopped onto her couch and asked Keiko, "What movie are we watching?"

"The Notebook."

Heellllllllllll no. (A/N sorry notebook lovers) Kiya did NOT do the romance movie thing. Mm-mm.

Kiya got up to leave the living room, when Keiko and Botan sat on both sides of her, pinning her to the couch. "Aw, just watch it."

Kiya huffed, "Fine, but you all better be ready for some good ol' fashion revenge when this is over."

And so, Yukina came back into the living room, carrying a bowl of popcorn. She seated herself on the other side of Botan on the couch and they watched the movie.

Oh the romantic horror. Kiya gagged out loud twice.

When the movie was over-thank kami- Keiko brushed away a tear that fell down her cheek, Yukina was smiling dreamily and Botan….to put it simply…was balling.

"That's so sweet!" said Botan between sobs and Kiya got an evil grin on her face.

"Alright, I sat through that _thing_ you call a movie, now you have to do what I want you to. I know, lets play a little game of dare or dare."

"Dare or dare? Isn't there supposed to be a truth in there?" asked Keiko.

"Nope. You can only do dares and im the one that will give them to you. Alright, Botan, dare or dare."

"Dare."

Kiya thought about this one, then got an evil grin. "I dare you to go to Koenma's office and give him a kiss-on the lips-even if he's in his toddler form. Oh, and we get to go with you, just to make sure you do it."

To say that Botan was pale would have been an understatement.

Keiko and Yukina giggled and Kiya just stood there with her arms crossed, a smirk on her lips.

Botan groaned and she stated, "Koenma, portal." Barely above a whisper.

A portal appeared in the middle of the room and they all stepped through, Kiya pushing Botan to go first.

Koenma, who of course, thought this was some kind of an emergency, immediatlystood up in his chair and yelled, "What is it? What happened."

_Yes, he's in his toddler form. Prepare to taste baby slobber, Botan._ Kiya thought gleefully to herself.

Botan walked….no……slumped over to Koenma's desk, her face a deep shade of crimson. "Botan, what is the meaning of—" he was cut off by the ferry-girl taking the pacifier out of his mouth and planting a quick kiss on his lips. She quickly backed away and gave Koenma back his binky.

Kiya was rolling on the floor, clutching her stomach, laughing her _ass_ off. Kiya was nearly crying when she looked up and saw Koenma, who was just staring at  
Botan, his face also bright red, his binky hanging limply from his lip. Kiya pointed at Koenma, managing to say a few words in between her roars of laughter.

"….baby………red……HAHAHAHAAH!" she continued to laugh even while Botan quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her through the portal quickly, closely followed by Yukina and Keiko, who were giggling.

When in her living room once again, Kiya had to hold onto the wall for support while she sustained her laughter.

"Okay../laugh/…Keiko and Yu /laugh/ kina, uh, you two will be /laugh/ doing your dare together." Kiya finished, and was now taking deep breaths from laughing so hard. When she was finally able to talk, she told them, "Kuwabara and Yusuke are next door. They're asleep by now but we're all going to go in there and.." she pulled the three of them into a circle and whispered her plan to them. When she was done, Yukina gasped and stepped back.

"But what will Kazuma-san think?"

"I don't know, Yukina. C'mon, just do it, please?"

"Oh, alright. I suppose it will be quite….entertaining." Yukina said, suppressing a giggle.

"Okay, lets go."

"Wait, Kiya, how will we get into his apartment? Is Atsuko home?" Asked Keiko.

"No, Atsuko went out of town for a couple of days with her friends, Yusuke told me. And…" Kiya held up a single key on a ring. "I made a copy of his key."

The girls laughed and quietly snuck out of Kiya'a apartment and across the hallway. Kiya carefully un-locked the door and they all shuffled inside to see Yusuke and Kuwabara out cold in the living room. Yusuke was on the couch and Kuwabara was on the love-seat.

HA! A tall oaf like Kuwabara trying to fit his entire body on a love-seat? He was scrunched up in a ball, and his feet still hung over the side of the small couch. Thank kami he wasn't sucking on his thumb again-Kiya didn't think that she could've handled that blasted 'slurping' noise.

They all quietly advanced on the sleeping duo and somehow got them onto the floor without waking them. Kiya pulled out the kimono that Yukina let her borrow and smirked menacingly.

---------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	12. Chapter 12

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYh gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

---------------------------

**Chapter 12: Lover-boy and moving again**

It was 10:30 before they had gotten done. It was harder than they thought to get those two to move around while keeping them asleep. But the effort was sooooo worth it. They girls tried to suppress their laughter while they sneaked out of the dark apartment and were halfway across the hallway when they heard a voice.

"Hello girls. Why were you in Yusuke's apartment?"

"Hey Kurama," Kiya looked behind Kurama to see a dark figure in the tree by the apartment building. "Helllo, Hiei." She turned back to Kurama after getting a 'hn.' In return. "We were just…..saying…..hello…..to my favorite neighbor….."

_Nice, Kiya. Not suspicious in the least bit, you retard!_

"U-huh." Clearly, Kurama did not believe her. "Well, we came to talk to the two, so if you'll excuse us." Kiya jolted in front of the door, holding her hands out, blocking the way.

"Uh, hehe…..you cant go in there….why don't you come into my apartment! Yeah, come on!" Kiya grabbed Kuramas hand and led him inside her apartment, with Botan, Yukina and Keiko following. Kurama was a bit taken aback and his eyes swirled momentarily with a speck of amber, but he soon snapped out of his trance and yanked his hand out of Kiya's when Hiei entered the room and he growled slightly after seeing their hands in contact with one another.

Hiei glared slightly at Kurama before looking back at Kiya. His eyes turned slightly dull before going back to normal. Thank god Kurama had given Hiei that plant that helped him control his…..demonly intincts.

Asking for the plant in the first place had been the most degrading thing Hiei had ever made himself do. And that damn smile that Kurama had on his face the whole time didn't help either. But, he had to do it. He didn't want his demon side to take over again, not after what it did to Kiya. All that night, Hiei had yelled and cursed at himself, wanting to know why he even cared and to quote it, 'what the Hell is happening to me?' But now, he could keep himself under control, allowing himself to leave the forest again. He was relieved, but his face didn't show it. His face never showed anything. And that's the way Hiei liked it.

Kiya looked at Kurama questioningly, not hearing Hiei's warning sound, and shrugged, sitting back down on the couch, she announced, "And now for part two of my revenge."

"What! Oh, come one, that's not fair!" whined Botan.

"It's very fair. That movie sucked. Okay, now we're gonna watch a movie of my choice." Kiya sat thinking for a moment, then got up and went to her TV and pulled out a movie case, smirking happily.

Keiko stared at her in disbelief. "Pet Cemetery? Why do we have to watch a scary movie?"

"Because I said so, now sit down and shut up." Kiya said with authority as she popped in the DVD case and walked back over to the couch. She looked down at the couches inhabitants, her hands at her hips. Botan, Kurama, Yukina, Keiko. There was no room for her. Kurama was about to stand up and sit somewhere else so that she could sit there, when she said, "No, it's cool, Kurama." Kurama looked at her and she smiled a reassuring smile at him. She looked around the living room for another place to sit, turning off the lights as she went, setting the mood for the movie.

Her gaze fell on the only other place she could sit besides on the floor. The windowsill. The unfortunately _occupied_ windowsill. She walked over to the large window and attempted to sit on the end of it, where there was about a foot and a half of vacancy, when someone's feet pushed to the end of it. Kiya glared up into the crimson orbs of the owner of the legs.

"Move over." She said simply.

"Hn. No."

"Fine." Kiya climbed on top of his legs and sat on his shins, which he retracted immediately from her touch. Kiya grinned in triumph and pulled her knees up to under her chin, watching the movie start. Halfway through the movie, Kiya began to laugh, while all the other girls were covering their eyes. (A/N it's the part where the baby goes crazy. If you haven't seen Pet Cemetery, go see it, it's cool) She always thought that baby was soo funny.

Hiei looked over at her and out of the corner of her eye, Kiya saw him staring at her. She turned her head so they were staring at each other. Kiya saw the familiar clouding of his eyes and she became worried, but the clouding soon subsided, being replaced by a smirk on the fire apparition's lips.

Kiya, so taken back from the fact that Hiei actually smirked-or showed any face-ly emotion, didn't even realize the foot gently pushing her before it was too late.

Kiya landed on the ground under the window sill with an un-graceful _'thump'_ and she suddenly snapped out of her daze, sending a death glare up at the fire apparition, who just continued to smirk at her. "You suck."

………_wow, he should smirk more often………hotttttt……_ She was snapped out of it when Hiei's smirk broadened and his Jagan glowed from beneath his bandana. It was then that Kiya remembered that he could read minds. She began to blush furiously and turned quickly to continue watching the movie, hoping to kami that the lack of light in her small living room concealed her now crimson cheeks.

Kiya kept on laughing till the end of the movie, mostly at the deranged baby on the screen and some of the time at Botan who kept squealing like a pig and hid her face in her hands.

When the movie was done, Yukina was already fast asleep on the couch and Kiya got up to turn off the TV.

"You guys can stay here for tonight, if you want. Since you'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to Yusuke and Kuwabara because of…….reasons."

Kurama nods and gets off the couch. Kiya goes to her room and fetches a few blankets for Kurama, Keiko, Botan and Yukina, knowing that Hiei wont need one.

When she comes back out into the living room, she distributes the blankets and Botan gets on the other side of the couch, opposite of Yukina and Kurama and Keiko lay on the floor. Kiya looks over to the windowsill to see that Hiei is no longer there.

"Hiei went outside. He prefers to sleep in the trees." Came Kurama's calm voice. Kiya nods and takes this opportunity to seize the windowsill and claim it as her sleeping spot for the night. She didn't feel right sleeping her bed tonight. She didn't know why. So she curled up on the windowsill and soon fell asleep smiling, waiting for what was going to happen tomorrow. A figure settled in the tree next to Kiya's window, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest before allowing himself to fall asleep as well.

-------------------

Everyone in the room woke up to an alarm sounding VERY loudly, but it wasn't coming from Kiya's apartment. Kiya woke up in a flash, almost falling off the windowsill. She quickly regained her balance and sprinted to her door, calling back to the others, "Come, on, they'll be waking up soon." Before disappearing out her apartment door and going across the hallway to Yusuke's apartment. The others soon got up and followed, even Kurama, anxious to see what was going to happen. When Kiya opened the door, the all snuck in and hid behind the counter in the kitchen, but still looking over the side. Hiei even flitted into the room and stood in the corner, arms crossed and an emotionless gaze sticking to the two figures still sleeping, despite the loud alarm coming from Yusuke's microwave.

Kuwabara finally woke up and looked with a furrowed brow at the figure under his arm, the figure that he was spooning that was wearing a light blue kimono and had turqiouse hair.

Kuwabara's eyes immediately lit up. "Yukina, my love! What a surprise!" He hugged 'Yukina' harder, not even noticing that 'Yukina' was bigger built and taller than usual.

"…The hell?" came the masculine voice of 'Yukina' that was currently facing away from Kuwabara. (A/N 'Yukina' was facing the opposite direction of Kuwabara, so that he couldn't see 'her' face.)

"Yukina?" Kuwabara asked 'her'.

'Yukina' turned around and looked at Kuwabara. "URAMESHI!"

Yusuke screamed, rather high pitched and immediately scrambled out from under Kuwabara's arm. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING! GOD, I CANT EVEN HAVE YOU SLEEP IN THE SAME ROOM AS ME……YOU MIGHT MOLEST ME!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Yusuke looked up at the blue hair falling in his face and yanked off the wig. He looked with wide eyes down at the blue kimono he was wearing that was stretched over his body, obviously too small for him and his pant legs showing at the bottom.

Yusuke looked angrily up at Kuwabara. "YOU SICK FUCK! YOU DRESSED ME UP AS YUKINA THEN SLEPT WITH ME! AAAHHHHHHH! KEEP YOUR NASTY FANTASIES TO YOURSELF, YOU STUPID, HIGH CHEEK-BONED FREAK!" he yelled.

The two were too busy yelling at each other to hear the incredibly loud laughing coming from the kitchen.

That is, until Kiya rolled out of the kitchen, on the floor, clutching her side, laughing so hard her face was bright red and she was crying.

"KIYA!" Yelled the two simultaneously.

"You….Should've……..seen your……….FACE!" She said through laughs. The two looked into the kitchen to see Keiko laughing out loud, Botan and Yukina giggling and Kurama chuckling. Then, they looked over to the smirking corner, to see Hiei…..smirking?

Woah, that's not something you see everyday.

"Gee, I didn't know you guys……swayed that way!" Kiya said, still laughing.

Kuwabara and Yusuke were visibly fuming and Keiko said, "Now…..dont worry, yusuke…you look very….pretty in that kimono…" Keiko said through laughing, only making everyone laugh harder.

Kiya stood up, using the desk for support and said to Keiko, "Nice one." She wiped a tear from her face.

That was the hardest Kiya had ever laughed. Too bad she probably have this much fun ever again.

---------------------------------

"Lord Jasaro, Lord Aerosaku, Lady Terra………Lord Markusho from the Western Makai is here. He requests your audience."

The three elementals looked at each other and Terra, the elemental of Earth spoke up. "Send him in." (A/N Terra means earth in Italian)

The tall white-haired man named Markusho stepped into the room. Immediately spoke. "I am proposing an allegiance……."

To be continued.

-------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	13. Chapter 13

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

----------------------------------------

Previously:

Kiya stood up, using the counter for support and said to Keiko, "Nice one." She wiped a tear from her face.

That was the hardest Kiya had ever laughed. Too bad she probably wouldn't have this much fun ever again.

---------------------------------

"Lord Jasaro, Lord Aerosaku, Lady Terra………Lord Markusho from the Western Makai is here. He requests your audience."

The three elementals looked at each other and Terra, the elemental of Earth spoke up. "Send him in." (A/N Terra means earth in Italian)

The tall white-haired man named Markusho stepped into the room and immediately spoke. "I am proposing an allegiance……."

------------------------------------------

**Chapter 13: **

After their little laughing fit, and after Yusuke gave the kimono back to Yukina, they all began the journey to Genkai's temple.

Yusuke and Kuwabara walked as far away from each other as possible, and there was No way Kiya could pass up this opportunity to say the one thing she'd been waiting to say to them since this morning.

"Aw, c'mon. Why don't you two just kiss and make up?" that got two responses.

"SHOVE IT KIYA! IM NOT GAY!." Yusuke's response made her laugh slightly.

"YOU WANNA SAY THAT TO MY FACE, SHORTY?"

Kiya held up her hands and said, "Okay, okay, touchy subject." And they all continued walking in silence. Kiya looked back behind their group and say Hiei walking by himself, so she did what came naturally to her, she slowed down her pace so that she was soon in-step with Hiei, who looked at her with his usual stoic gaze. They were silent for a moment, just listening to all the others talk, until Kiya said something.

"You're too damn quiet."

Hiei just glared at her. She backed off.

Kiya was confused, she liked this guy……..a lot…and she thought that he liked her, I mean, after the whole 'tackling' incident. Gathering what bravery she had left, she decided that there was only one way to find out if Hiei liked her even a tiny bit. She reached out her hand……..

…………and hesitantly brushed it by Hiei's, before sliding her hand into his. This was it, the moment of truth. Hiei looked down at their hands, and back at Kiya, not once removing his hand from her's. Kiya saw his eyes darken for a moment and felt him shake slightly. But his eyes soon went back to normal and he yanked his hand away from hers.

"You should be more careful around me." He growled. Kiya nodded sadly then quickened her pace so that she wouldn't have to be near him. Now she knew the answer, Hiei felt nothing for her-nothing. Seeing Genkai's temple steps ahead of her, she flew up the stairs and walked calmly into Genkai's living room, waiting for everyone else. She thought she heard a 'God damnit, I wish I could fly,' but she wasn't sure. Kiya quickly ran to the room that Genkai had prepared for her and dropped off her bag, then returned to the living room. As soon as Kiya was about to sit down on the floor, Genkai busted into the room and said, "Ah, ah. Get up, we're training today. Go to the clearing in the forest."

"Alright, I'm going, jeez. Keep your knickers on, old woman." She mumbled on her way out to the forest. Again, Kiya flew.

Kiya loved flying, it was her favorite thing to do now, besides bug the crap out of everyone around her for the hell of it (save Hiei cause he would kill her.) The feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when she was in the air made her smile. The way she floated in and out of the trees made her actually appreciate life.

Kiya looked behind her to see that everyone else except for one person was behind her, walking to the clearing. Ill bet you can guess who that one person was.

When hearing something next to her, Kiya looked to her right, seeing a black blur flitting from tree to tree, right beside her. Kiya's competitive nature kicked in and she bean to speed up, declaring this a race. Hiei obviously picked up in that because he also began to move faster, but clearly he was holding back. Kiya went faster still, barely keeping up with Hiei. She was fast, but not _that_ fast. About 30 feet ahead of them was the break in the trees, and Kiya looked back to Hiei. She couldn't see his face because it was still just a blur, but if she could, she would see that he was smirking. He had been doing a lot of that lately. Right when the two were 10 feet from the clearing, Hiei disappeared.

_What the hell?_

She was too busy looking to the side where Hiei disappeared from, to notice that she was now out of the forest, and speeding towards the figure who was standing there, looking at her. They collided, sending them both flying back 10 feet before the figure fell to the ground, Kiya on top of him. She looked down to see Hiei glaring at her.

"Get off me onna."

Kiya struggled to get off of Hiei as fast as she could, but could not move due to the two strong arms draped across her waist. "Uh, Hiei…." She motioned towards her waist and Hiei quickly removed his hands, stood up and turned around, hoping that he could hide the blush that crept onto his face. Thank Kami no one saw them...

"GET A ROOM!" came Yusuke's voice from behind them.

….Damnit.

Kiya turned around to glare at him, to see that everyone was with him. He and Kuwabara were laughing and Kurama was standing there, his mouth slightly ajar. (A/N hehe, a jar……ok I'm done) and Genkai and Yukina (Who had come to watch and heal anyone if needed) just continued to walk, Yukina giggling slightly.

Kurama shook his head and said, "For your training today, you're going to be fighting Yusuke, Kuwabara and I."

"What about Hiei?"

"You aren't strong enough to fight him."

"Yeah, he'd maul you."

Yusuke turned to Kuwabara, "No he wouldn't, didn't you see what they were just doin? He totally digs her, he wouldn't maim her."

"Wanna bet, Urameshi?"

"Yeah, I do….." The two were interrupted.

"ENOUGH,", yelled Kiya, turning around so that the three of them wouldn't see her blush, totally forgetting that Hiei was behind her, so he saw her red face.

"Let's just get this over with." She mumbled. All five of them walked to the middle of the field and Kurama said, "Kiya, you'll be fighting Kuwabara first."

Kiya's face lit up and she said, "Yay, this should be easy."

Kuwabara ignored Kiya's comment and said, "I cant fight Kiya, she's a girl!"

"What, afraid you'll get your ass kicked?"

"ITS AGAINST MY CODE TO FIGHT A GIRL!"

"Well, uh. Kiya doesn't really count as a girl………" Kiya fumed at Yusuke's response.

"Yeah, but you do, you little wig-wearing, kimono sporting jackass,"

"Enough you two, now Kuwabara, if you aren't going to fight Kiya, we'll be forced to count that as a forfeit and Kiya would be declared the winner." Oh, so now they were considering this a game….sort of. What Kurama said got under Kuwabara's skin.

"Fine! Ill do it! Jeez!"

Kuwabara stepped into the little 'circle' that Yusuke had formed with a bunch of sticks and glared at Kiya. Kiya just smiled at him. Kiya grabbed a katana from outside the ring and unsheathed it, turning back to Kuwabara.

"And…..BEGIN!" Yusuke thrust his hand from above his head downward, signifying the start of the practice fight.

Kiya took the fighting stance that Hiei had showed her and readied her katana.

Kuwabara also took a fighting stance and they both just stood there, waiting for the other to attack.

Kuwabara lunged forward, his fist aimed right at Kiya's head. He nearly fell flat on his face when Kiya jumped up over Kuwabara and gave him a swift kick to the side of his head.

Kuwabara turned to Kiya, his face red, "That was a cheap shot!...SPIRIT SWORD!" An orange sword made of Kuwabara's ki formed in his hand and he swung it at Kiya. She ducked quickly and the sword flew above her head, causing her hair to sway slightly. Kiya then stood up and held her palm out facing Kuwabara. A blue orb materialized in her hand and she threw it at him, hitting him straight in the face.

He fell back onto the ground, eyes closed. Kiya quickly ran over to him and looked down at him.

"Is it dead?"

Kurama and Yusuke came up next to her and Kurama said, "No, he's merely unconscious. Yukina…"

He didn't have to say anything more, because Yukina was already at Kuwabara's side, healing the large wound on his forehead created by Kiya's orb. Kurama helped her get Kuwabara's body out of the ring and then he stepped back into the ring, facing Kiya.

Yusuke objected. "Hey! I want to fight Kiya."

"No, Yusuke, I would like to see if she could last a couple of minutes fighting me. You can fight her later."

Yusuke pouted and leaned against a tree, his arms crossed.

_What a baby…_ Kiya thought to herself. She looked back at Kurama with uncertain eyes. Kuwabara was easy, but Kurama's sure to be……more difficult to beat.

Wait….no-that was an understatement.

Ok, to put it frankly, Kiya was screwed.

"……..begin." Said an unenthusiastic Yusuke, who was still obviously pouting about the fact that he was not allowed to fight Kiya.

Kiya once again took her fighting stance and Kurama raised his hand to his hair. Kiya watched, one eyebrow raised.

Kiya didn't have time to question what he was doing because Kurama calmly picked a rose from out of his hair.

_The hell………?_

Kurama looked Kiya straight in the eyes and without removing his gaze from her, he shouted, "ROSE WHIP!"

……_.whip?_

Right before Kiya's eyes, Kurama's rose turned into a long, green, thorny whip.

Crap……..

Kurama swung his whip and it slashed Kiya's arm while she was still in her state of staring. But this attack knocked her back into the real world and she grasped her arm, the blood already seeping out of the deep wound. She looked back up at Kurama and dodged an attack by lunging to the right side.

-----------------MEANWHILE, WITH HIEI------------------

Hiei sat in a tree, watching the fight between Kiya and Kurama go on. Kiya was just standing there, staring at Kurama's rose whip when he brought the whip crashing down onto Kiya's arm. Kiya blinked once and her hand flew to the wound, the blood seeping down over her hand.

Hiei had to grip the branch above him to keep him from going over there and attacking Kiya-again, his gaze glued to the blood. His grip tightened, his knuckles white and the branch creaking.

Hiei quickly reached into his pocket where he kept the plants that Kurama gave to him to keep his demon self under control. They were small purple leaves about the size of a quarter and Kurama told him to eat one or two whenever the urges returned to him, depending on how strong they were. Kurama had told him to use the plants widely because those were all he had. He could grow more, but it would take a week minimum.

His hand dug deeper into the pocket when he found none at the surface. After a minute, Hiei's eyes widened slightly.

He was out.

-------------------BACK TO THE FIGHT----------------------

Kiya quickly rolled to the side when Kurama's whip came crashing down right next to her head. She quickly stood up and attempted to hit Kurama with her katana, but instead, the katana was wrapped in Kurama's whip and snapped in two. Kiya tossed the now broken katana onto the ground and jumped back, so that she could get a clear shot.

She held her hands up in front of her and focused her energy into her attack. "ENERGY WA-----" her words were abruptly cut off as Kurama's whip encircled itself around Kiya's wrists and pulled her to the ground, causing her arms to get scratched up by the thorns. "Ow, god damnit!"

Kiya yanked the whip off of her wrists, ripping the thorns out of her flesh- which hurt like hell. Kiya flew about 15 into the air and crossed her legs, making it look like she was sitting Indian-style on air…..which she sort of was. She rubbed her wounded wrists and glared down at Kurama. That damn whip of his hurt like a mother.

Kurama looked up at her and sighed. He knew that she was planning on staying up there for a while – Hiei had told him about his and Kiya's little training sessions that were entirely wasted because Kiya refused to get back onto the ground.

While up in the air, Kiya began to focus her energy once again into the palm of her hand, a blue orb materializing above it. Trying to make this attack as quick as possible, Kiya flew down to behind Kurama and thrust the orb at him, causing him to fly across the ring and crash into the ground. But, before she had attacked him, Kiya didn't have time notice the whip that had quickly encircled itself around Kiya's waist, the other end being firmly held by Kurama, even after Kiya had attacked him. So, Kiya was roughly yanked after Kurama and she too crashed into the ground next to Kurama.

The impact caused Kurama's whip to further dig itself into Kiya's waist. Any further and the thorns would reach her bone. While Kurama got up and rubbed his sore back, Kiya lay on the ground, in so much pain that she couldn't even move. Kurama looked down at Kiya and his eyes widened.

"YUKINA!" Yelled Kurama as he crouched down by Kiya, attempting to gently remove the whip from around her waist. Kiya gasped in pain as Kurama pulled out the thorns, opening the wounds wider and causing her blood to run down the said of her stomach. Kiya was becoming pale from the blood loss and Yukina quickly ran to Kiya, sat down beside her and immediately began to heal her torso. Kiya laid her head back and attempted to breathe normally, but it was difficult. Yukina's hands glowed a faint blue and Kiya's skin began to slowly pull itself together, closing the wounds, but Kiya's blood still lay in a crimson pool around her. That was almost a fatal amount of blood she had lost.

Kiya became paler and paler every second that that lost blood was out of her body and her lips turned slightly blue. She began to shiver. Despite the fact that Yukina was doing a wonderful job at healing all of Kiya's wounds, Kiya still lost too much blood to keep herself warm.

Kurama saw this and was about to take off his shirt to cover her with it, when Hiei came up behind him, holding his cloak out to him.

"Give this to her." Hiei was looking to his side, away from Kiya, his eyes darkening, then returning to normal. Kurama didn't have time to ask why Hiei wasn't looking at her, but he quickly ran to Kiya and covered her with Hiei's cotton cloak. It covered her quiet well actually. Kiya stopped shivering almost immediately and Yukina moved to healing Kiya's wrists. Kiya's closed eyes opened halfway and she warily looked up at the people surrounding her, her gaze stopping on the one person who stood a bit further back than the others, looking away from her and his fists clenched. Kiya smiled to herself after seeing him, then allowed herself to become unconscious.

Yukina had by then finished healing all of Kiya's wounds and Kuwabara was now –unfortunately- conscious.

"What happened to her?" Came the incredibly intelligent question from Kuwabara.

"Kurama kicked her ass."

"Yusuke!"

"Don't even try to deny it, Kurama…"

----------------------------------------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	14. Chapter 14

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-------------------------------------------------

Previously:

"Kurama kicked her ass."

"Yusuke!"

"Don't even try to deny it, Kurama.."

-------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 14: Rest Sucks……Sort of:**

Kiya woke up to find that she was in her room in Genkai's temple, her torso throbbing slightly. She blinked once and attempted to sit up, but halfway up a strong bandaged hand pushed her back onto the bed. Kiya looked up into the crimson orbs that were glaring at her, then at the bandaged hand that had not yet left her shoulder.

"What, am I under bed arrest?"

"Hn. Rest, onna."

Kiya's mouth opened slightly. "Who do you think you are! You cant tell me what to do! Plus, I have a name, smart one." She tried to sit up again.

"Hn." Hiei then moved quickly so that he was above Kiya on the bed, his hands firmly placed on her shoulders, his knees that were on both sides of Kiya's waist kept him from sitting on her, his body about 5 inches from hers. Hiei suddenly lowered his head so that his face was centimeters from Kiya's, his crimson orbs staring into Kiya's silver ones.

Kiya tried to burrow her head further into the pillow behind her head in the hopes of increasing the distance between the two, but to no avail.

Kiya had no idea how hard it was for Hiei to keep himself under control while she was so close and………..NO! Hiei refused to let his thoughts wander and let himself go again, which was easier to do since his mating season was coming to an end- thank Kami.

Hiei began to draw closer to Kiya and she finally realized what he was going to do- and she was excited. I mean, it's not like they hadn't kissed before, but this would be the first time that it wasn't out of instinct or hunger (A/N another figure of speech). She closed her eyes in anticipation and puckered her lips slightly.

Hiei stopped moving when his lips were right above Kiya's. She looked so ridiculous with her eyes closed and her lips puckered. When she finally realized that Hiei was making no move what-so-ever to kiss her, she peeped open one eye and looked questionably at Hiei. His breath tickled her now back-to-normal lips and his scent of pine trees and sulfur teased her.

"Rest," he repeated. He was tricking her! What the hell? He raised his head again, but his hands remained on her shoulders. Kiya just glared at him, until her eyes flashed with mischief. She wasn't going down without a fight.

Kiya knew the consequences of what she was about to do, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of bed.

So, Kiya raised her right hand, placed it on the back of Hiei's neck and roughly pulled his face down to hers, immediately pressing her lips against his.

Hiei's eyes widened slightly and Kiya felt him tense up, his grip on her shoulders tightening. But he soon loosened up and began to answer her kiss with his own, his breath quickening. Now was her chance. Kiya shoved Hiei off of her, jumped off the bed and began to run to the door. She was five feet from freedom when her 'bailiff' appeared in front of her, giving her a death glare.

"……heh…" Kiya tried to back up into the door, but Hiei roughly picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and walked over to the bed, dropping her un-gracefully onto it- but not without Kiya gripping his upper arm and yanking him down with her. He landed on top of her and Kiya's cheeks immediately flushed a deep shade of crimson from their position. She quickly wiggled to the right, out from under Hiei, but kept her steady hold on his arm.

He turned his head to face her, his red eyes glowing dangerously. "Let. Go. Of. Me. Onna," he growled.

"If I have to stay here, then so do you." Hiei narrowed his eyes at the blue haired elemental and she returned his glare with a grin, before closing her eyes and allowing herself to fall back asleep. Despite the fact that she tried to escape the room, she was still very exhausted, and the fact that Hiei was there and his body heat radiated off of him like a heater didn't help either.

Hiei could've left at any time, we all know that. But he didn't. Instead, he leaned up against the headboard and watched as Kiya's chest rose and fell deeply, signaling her deep sleep.

He became alarmed when Kiya began to mutter incoherently and she turned to him, immediately moving closer to him. He watched as a smile crept onto her face, obviously content at the un-natural warmth being provided by the fire apparition. Kiya placed an arm over Hiei's torso and moved herself even closer to him, their bodies now touching.

It was then that Hiei noticed that he no longer had the urge to……..give into his demon side, so-to-say. His mating season was finally over, much to the relief of the Jaganshi-but even though his demonly urges and desires were gone, the feeling that he got in the pit of his stomach whenever Kiya was near was still there- which could only mean one thing.

He was still attracted to Kiya. It was no longer an instinct driven attraction, but one he had even after his mating season was over. He realized that he still wanted her to be his mate- which was still very confusing to our Jagan bearing friend, mind you. Now that his mating season was over, he had expected that all those feelings he had towards the young elemental would perish, but they didn't.

Hiei looked once more at the blue-haired girl next to him before placing a possessive arm over her and closing his eyes, feeling at ease enough to allow himself to fall asleep.

-------------------------MEANWHILE IN KIYA'S MIND------------------------

Kiya blinked and looked around at her surroundings. She was in a large room, the walls colored a deep crimson. The black carpet was soft beneath her bare feet. There was a four poster bed in the middle of the room on the right wall and dim wall lights gave the room an eerie feeling.

"Hello Kiya-koi." (love)

Kiya spun around to glare at the owner of the fearfully familiar deep, velvety voice. The red of his spiked hair contrasted nicely with the stunning yellow of his cruel eyes. "Don't call me that, Jasaro." She spat out his name, using it for the first time, it felt like the very word stung her throat.

Jasaro made a 'tsk' sound and stepped towards her. Kiya instinctively stepped back, her eyes narrowed at the teenager. She was not afraid of him and she wanted to make sure he knew that. "Now, now, Kiya. Why treat your future king like that?"

"Future king my ass."

"Such a mouth." He stepped towards her once again. "I like that." His eyes glowed dangerously and Kiya stepped back once more, only to have her back make contact with a hard wall. Great. Now she was trapped.

Jasaro kept advancing on Kiya and continued talking. "Soon the three worlds will belong to the elementals. Everything will be at our mercy. We will rule, Kiya, side by side." He suddenly ran up to Kiya and pushed her up against the wall. He bent his head down by her ear and whispered, "With you as my queen."

Kiya had had enough. With all the force she could come up with, she pushed Jasaro away from her and aimed her foot for a swift kick where it counts. Her foot shot out and was centimeters from Jasaro…..when he disappeared. His sickening laugh came from all corners of the room. "You cannot harm me, Kiya. This is just a vision, nothing more. I am not really here, and neither are you...this is just a dream."

"If it is just a dream, then you can't harm me, either."

"Such an intelligent young lass. That is true, I cannot hurt you physically, but I can hurt you immensely emotionally."

"What's that supposed to m…." She was cut off by a very familiar vision. A vision she hoped she would never see again.

There Kiya was, in the middle of a field. Or-what was left of one.

Bodies were scattered everywhere, and most of them were recognizable. They were all surrounding Kiya, making some-what of a circle around her. Kiya was visibly hurt. She looked at a body-it's red hair falling limply around it's owner's face. Kiya crouched down and brushed aside the hair, revealing the pale face of Kurama. Blood trickled down the side of his face from a large wound on his forehead.

Kiya's eyes began to tear and she soon turned her attentions to the bodies behind her. Yusuke's, Kuwabara's. Koenma's, Botan's, Yukina's, Genkai's and Keiko's. Kiya just stood there, not knowing what to do. All of her friends had died. She didn't know how, but they were all here, lying on the ground, dead. All but one.

"Looking for _this?_" Came a harsh deep voice as it hissed the word 'this' form behind Kiya. Kiya turned around slowly to see the familiar fire elemental dressed in black pants, a crimson shirt and a long red cape on as he looked at Kiya with piercing yellow eyes and tossed a body to the ground. Kiya's eyes fell from the elemental's face to the body on the ground at his feet. It had it's back to Kiya, it's usually tall black hair now falling limply on the ground, it's black tank top ripped and pants bloody.

"HIEI!" Kiya yelled as she quickly ran to the body and turned it over, to see that Hiei was still barely alive. Blood ran freely down the side of his face and neck.

Hiei's crimson orbs looked up into Kiya's silver ones……….and time froze.

Kiya was not frozen however, which confused her. The elemental in front of her cleared his throat to show that he too had not been affected by the time freeze.

"This has just been a brief showing of what is in your future, Kiya." He spoke.

She looked up at him and hissed, "What did you do?"

"It's not what _I_ did, Kiya, but what you did not."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that this is what will happen if you do not give in to your destiny and join me."

Then everything went blank, tears threatening to fall in fear of all this being real. She didn't want anyone to get hurt, especially Hiei.

"Here is my offer, darling." Kiya winced at that word as Jasaro's voice carried through her darkness, here eyes straining to see _something._ "You can come to me willingly, or what you have just seen will become a reality. All your little friends will die by my hand."

Kiya suddenly became dizzy and her eyelids drooped. Jasaro spoke once more. "My offer still stands, darling."

"N-no." Kiya managed to sputter out.

"Fine, but if you change your mind, just call me. Perhaps I will send you a little…proof…of what I can do." Jasaro chuckled, then…..

………Kiya's eyes shot open

-----------------NORMAL POV-----------------

Kiya's eyes shot open and she let out a breath of relief when she realized that it _was_ just a dream.

But, it took her a while to realize that the pitch blackness that she was looking into was not her room. Instead, it was a warm black cloth-and it moved.

Now, it didn't take a genius to figure out that something wasn't right. Kiya looked up into the face of Hiei, his crimson eyes hidden beneath his dark lashes that lay peacefully on his cheeks.

_He stayed?_ She thought to herself before peering over Hiei's chest to see that the digital clock on her nightstand blinked red numbers: '2:32 am.'

Kiya froze when Hiei inhaled deeply. Had she woken him up? One look at his peaceful face told her that she didn't, but with Hiei, one could never be too sure. Kiya looked down at their bodies.

Hiei lay on his back while Kiya lay on her side, facing him. One of Kiya's hands were placed on Hiei's tank top-covered chest while the other one was up by her head. One of Hiei's hands was wrapped around Kiya's waist, holding her firmly to him, and his other hand was on his chest near Kiya's hand, but not touching it. Kiya noticed that that was the hand that was always covered with bandages. One of Kiya's legs were on Hiei's lap slightly and her head rested peacefully on his shoulder.

_How did we get into this position?_ Kiya shrugged to herself before scooting even closer to Hiei, noting the heat coming off of him. She fiddled with the bandage on his right arm before falling back asleep.

Hiei tightened his grip on her waist. He had been awake since his Jagan had gone into Kiya's dream unwillingly. Through physical contact, the Jagan can almost unconsciously enters one's mind, it's usually very hard for it not to. Hiei had seen what had gone on in Kiya's mind and to put it simply, he was pissed. No one was going to take _his_ Kiya away from him. No one.

------------------------------------------------

Kiya tiredly blinked open her eyes, then immediately shut them tightly because of the bright light shinning in through her open window. She groaned and turned over, burying her head into the pillow, suddenly aware of the absence of warmth that had been provided by Hiei not too long ago.

…_Hiei! _

Kiya's head shot up and she was soon disappointed to see that her bed was lacking one person. _He must've left sometime this morning._ Kiya slumped out of bed and walked to her bathroom, tripping on her own feet- twice.

Locking the door behind her, Kiya took off her pants (Her only piece of clothing besides the bandaged that covered her upper half.) She was too tired to worry about who had bandaged her up. She unraveled the bloody bandages and they fell to the floor and Kiya ran a hand along her stomach where a scar should've been, and it was then that Kiya realized that Yukina must have healed her.

_Duh! _

God, she was even slower when she was tired. Kiya turned on the shower water, adjusting and testing the heat of the water before stepping into the small rectangular shower and sliding the glass door shut. The steaming water ran over her body and she immediately got goose bumps. The water was like a drug, Kiya's personal ecstasy- all water had that effect on her, and it always has, even before Kiya received her powers. She was always able to breathe under-water also. For Kiya, the water would gather up the oxygen within itself and basically feed it to her, so that she was able to be underwater for as long as she liked. It was almost as if the water had a mind of its own. She shampooed and conditioned her hair before forcing herself to turn off the shower, stopping the flow of the heavenly water and she stepped out of it. She wrapped her body up in a towel and put her damp, midnight blue hair up into a high ponytail before stepping into her room to get something to wear.

She chose her white 'Ass Kicker' shirt and her black Tripp pants along with her favorite converses before stepping out of her room and making her way to the kitchen, while being overwhelmed by the smell of Kurama's cooking. She loved the smell of his breakfasts-but she had never eaten them. For breakfast everyday, she always ate one thing, and one thing only.

Pop-Tarts. Brown cinnamon Pop-Tarts. She fricken worshiped those things.

Stepping into the kitchen, she was greeted by Botan (Who had shown up that morning just to say hi) and Yukina rushing to her and trapping her in a huge hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Kiya-chan!"

"All because of your healing, Yukina." She smiled at the turquoise haired girl, who smiled right back.

Both her and Botan released Kiya and before she could make it to the pantry, Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped her with bone crushing hugs.

"Dude! We thought you'd be out for way longer, Kurama totally……." Kiya cut Yusuke off.

"Me……Need…….AIR!" Yusuke and Kuwabara released her and she stumbled back, taking deep breaths.

"Morons." She joked and then made her way over to the pantry, glancing at Kurama who had not said one word to her yet. His gaze was fixed on the omelet he was making (So I don't know any Japanese breakfast foods, sue me).

_He must feel bad about what happened._ Kiya reached into the pantry and grabbed her box of pop-tarts. Peering inside, she suddenly screamed, "WHO TOOK ONE OF MY POP-TARTS!" She looked around the kitchen furiously until her gaze fell upon the silver wrapper….unopened….on the table…..in front of Yusuke-who was frozen in fear, too afraid to even move.

"YOU!" She yelled accusingly and Yusuke as she pointed at him. Yusuke yelped as Kiya floated quickly to the table and snatched the pop-tart off the table, holding it to her chest. She glared at Yusuke and got close to his face. "Never. EVER. Touch. My. Pop-tarts." She hissed, then turned her attention from the shuddering Spirit Detective to the beloved Pop-tarts in her hand. She plopped down at the table contently and opened the package, quickly eating the Pop-Tart.

Kuwabara broke the silence. "We start school tomorrow."

Kiya looked up at him and swallowed the bit of pop-tart in her mouth before saying, "So soon? Damn, I hate school."

"Preach it." Kiya shot a look at Yusuke and he backed up in his chair, making an 'eep' sound.

Kiya decided to change the subject. "Where's Hiei?"

"Training." Came Kurama's quiet answer. He still wouldn't look at Kiya and it was starting to really bother her. She stood up from the table after completely consuming her pop-tart and walked over to Kurama, dragging him from the stove by his elbow. "I need to talk to you." Yukina took over the cooking and Kiya lead Kurama into the empty hallway.

She stopped and looked him in the eye, and he returned her look. Kiya knew what was bothering him. "Kurama, we were training, that's it. Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm fine, see?" She twirled, letting him see that she was in fact- fine.

Kurama smiled lightly and nodded. Kiya smiled back, but then gasped when she saw Kurama's eyes.

What used to be a dazzling green, was now replaced by a deep amber. Kiya took a step back when Kurama advanced on her.

"You know, Kurama won't let us get near you. He says that you're taken…."

_What the hell?_

"…but I don't see anyone's name on you, and you're just too hard to stay away from."

"Who are you?" Kiya was officially freaked out.

"Oh, excuse my poor manners." Then, right there, before Kiya's very eyes, Kurama began to transform. His long red hair grew even longer and turned a silvery hue. Two fox ears were placed in the hair on top of his head. His usually pink outfit was replaced by a white one, with fabric flying all over the place. A silver tail showed itself from behind him and found it's way around Kiya's waist, abruptly pulling her to him. She collided with his chest and he smirked down at her. "My name's Youko Kurama."

-------------------------------------------------

Kendra a.k.a. Blazin Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	15. Chapter 15

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

------------------------------------------

Previously:

"Oh, excuse my poor manners." Then, right there, before Kiya's very eyes, Kurama began to transform. His long red hair grew even longer and turned a silvery hue. Two fox ears were placed in the hair on top of his head. His usually pink outfit was replaced by a white one, with fabric flying all over the place. A silver tail showed itself from behind him and found it's way around Kiya's waist, abruptly pulling her to him. She collided with his chest and he smirked down at her. "My name's Youko Kurama."

_------------------------------------------_

**Chapter 15: Dear Blaze:**

_Youko! Koenma and Kurama told me about him! The famous Makai thief king- god I'm so stupid._

Kiya struggled to get out of his grasp, roughly pushing on his chest, but Youko just wrapped his arms around her waist and held her there. Kiya looked up into his amber eyes and hissed, "Let me go." Youko only smirked and chuckled at her.

He leaned his head down so that his face was inches from hers and he whispered, "No," before closing the distance between them by pressing his lips firmly against hers. Kiya in-took a sharp breath and began pushing against Youko's chest again, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her small waist, her body moving closer to his and her hands getting caught in the middle, now immobilized. Youko began breathing heavily and he nibbled on Kiya's bottom lip with his fangs. She opened her mouth to gasp in pain, but the gasp was hushed by Youko's tongue entering her mouth. Kiya's eyes widened and her nose began to itch as some of Youko's hair fell in her face. Kiya struggled even more now, especially when one of Youko's hands began to trail downward past her lower back. This wasn't right. Kurama was her friend, nothing more………

….Youko was suddenly ripped away from Kiya, and she could finally breathe. Kiya looked up quickly to see that Youko had changed back into Kurama, who was being held roughly by the collar of his shirt. The holder of the shirt was none other than Hiei.

Busted!

Kurama looked worriedly at Hiei, then at Kiya and he gasped. "Oh my, Kiya I am so sorry-"

He was cut off by Hiei. "What do you think you were doing, fox?" He growled.

Kurama pulled himself out of Hiei's grip and looked down at him. "That was not me, it was Youko, and I apologize deeply, I couldn't stop him." He would've said something about Youko having the hots for Kiya, but he figured that Hiei wouldn't appreciate that at all. Kurama returned his gaze to Kiya, his eyes sorrowful, as if begging for forgiveness.

Kiya, who was still panting slightly just smiled an understanding smile back at him. "It's okay, Kurama, I understand. Just don't let it happen again." This whole situation was incredibly awkward.

Kurama nodded, and Hiei added, "I suggest you leave now, kitsune, before you lose your life."

Kurama smiled weakly at the both of them before leaving, his face bright red. It was an empty threat, Kurama knew that, but Hiei was still pissed at him none-the-less for even laying a hand on Kiya. He had known Hiei for long enough to know two things. One: he was Hiei's best friend, and Hiei would never kill him. Two: Hiei is very dangerous when it came to him and the things he considered 'his'.

When Hiei was sure that Kurama was gone, he turned to Kiya, glaring at her.

"What?"

Hiei just 'hn'ed then disappeared into his room.

Kiya groaned in frustration. Hiei was so hard to understand. She walked into her own room, reached under her mattress to pull out her little black leather book and a pen. She plopped down on her bed and began jotting down her thoughts.

**Dear Blaze,**

**Wow, were do I start. Well, I guess I'll start by apologizing. I haven't written in a while and for that, I'm sorry.**

**Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Today was………different, to say the least. Well, actually, lets begin when this all started.**

**Yesterday, I was training with Kurama and his rose whip knocked me unconscious. I woke up last to see Hiei in my room. He told me to go to sleep, and I told him that if I had to stay in there, than he did, too. He could've left. But he didn't, he stayed. I woke up again and we were laying by each other. He's warm-really warm.**

**Youko, you know, Kurama's other side? Yeah, he showed himself and kissed me in the hallway today. I have no clue why. I tried to get him off of me, but he was too strong. But soon Hiei came and threatened Kurama to get away from me. I sort of feel sorry for him, he must be so embarrassed. **

**Then, Hiei just glared at me before disappearing into his room. Or, I guess it was his room, I'm not sure. **

**I'm so over-whelmed right now, Blaze. Things with Hiei have been……..odd. I just want to know why.**

**Why did Hiei get so pissed off about Youko? Why did Hiei stay with me when I was asleep last night? Why is he so distant? I don't have an answer for any of those questions. I always thought that Hiei hated me, or at least didn't have the same feelings for me that I had for him. But then he turns around and becomes all protective of me, and then disappears, again.**

**I've said it before and ill say it again, Blaze: I'm confused. I wish Rob were here, I would be able to talk to him. He'd be able to tell me that everything's alright, that everything will be okay. Maybe I should go visit his grave. The funeral home told me where he's buried. I just want everything to be okay again.**

**But everything won't be okay. I am cursed. I don't see my existence as a blessing. It's hell. In the end, one way or the other, I'll end up hurting the ones I love. Either by staying with them and having them get murdered by Jasaro, or go with Jasaro and have them hate me for betraying them. I hate Jasaro more than anyone. I loathe him. **

**Sometimes, I just think it would all be better if I just wasn't here. If I was gone, then Ningenkai, Rekai and Mekai would be safe, the elementals can't rule the worlds without all four of us. If I was gone, no one would die, everything would be normal.**

**Hey, that's a good idea. I should leave. Not move away, I mean really leave…….**

……**.something bad is going to happen, I can feel it….**

As if on cue, Kiya heard gasps and screams downstairs.

"Keiko!" Came Yusuke's voice.

----------------------------------------------------------

**CLIFFHANGER!**

NOT!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Kiya threw Blaze to the side and flew downstairs immediately.

She gasped when she got there.

Keiko lie on the ground, her clothes ripped and her blood spilled everywhere from the open cuts all over her body.

"Keiko! Oh my god, what happened?"

"Keiko was attacked." Came Genkai's raspy voice as she entered the room, Yukina by her side. Yukina's eyes widened and she quickly rushed to Keiko's side. Yusuke bent down by her side and said, "She just came here like this. Staggered through the doorway and passed out." Kiya could hear the anger in his voice.

Who could've done this? Kiya immediately remembered something.

--------FLASHBACK----------

"Fine, but if you change your mind, just call me. Perhaps I will send you a little…proof…of what I can do."

------------END FLASHBACK-------------

Jasaro.

Kiya's fists clenched by her side. She needed to think. "I'm leaving." She would've said something to Keiko, but she was unconscious. Without another word, Kiya flew out of the temple and towards her destination. The Okimuro hakachi (graveyard).

Kiya made sure to fly far above the ground. It was noon and Kiya didn't feel like explaining to Koenma why a bunch of ningens were running around in Japan screaming about flying girls. It was a cloudy day, the landscape below Kiya was cast in a grayish hue. Below her, she spotted the graveyard and quickly flew down to it, landing gracefully on the ground. She quickly looked around, making sure no one saw her. When she was satisfied with the seemingly empty street, Kiya walked into the graveyard and immediately walked over to the far right corner of the 20 acre burial ground. There, right in the corner, was a small tombstone.

**Rob Haruko**

**1962-2000**

**Loving son and friend.**

**Può per sempre riposarsi nella pace. **

**Volontà per sempre ha mancato. (1)**

Kiya ran a finger over the Italian writing. Rob was fluent in Italian and he used to teach Kiya a few words everyday she came to the restaurant to work.

Kami, she missed Rob so much. She sat down on the damp soil next to his tombstone and she rested her forehead on the cold stone. She began to talk to it, as if it were Rob.

"Why is everything so fucked up, Rob? Why does my life have to be this way? Why did I have to be what I am? Why are you gone? Who killed you?"

She paused, as if he would answer. She longed to hear his deep, comforting voice again- to hear him call her 'kid' one more time.

But she knew that would never happen, so she continued speaking, spilling her soul to this stone. About everything, to the Rekai Tentai, to Hiei and Youko…..everything. And it felt good, too. She was finally able to let it all out, and the stone absorbed it all as if it really were Rob. She took a deep breath when she was done talking, her forehead still on the tombstone, her fingers plucking the small blades of grass over Rob's grave.

Thunder boomed in the sky and Kiya gazed up at the dark clouds, willing the rain to come. Soft drops of rain fell upon Kiya, and she sighed in relief. This is what she needed. To unwind, to just let everything out, to stand in the rain. She bent over, gave the tombstone a kiss and stood up, taking her time walking out of the graveyard. By the time she was at the gate, her eyes were partly closed, her face was pointed upwards and she was smiling.

Suddenly, the rain stopped. Kiya opened her eyes further to see that she was being covered by an umbrella. She looked quizzically at the umbrella's holder.

He looked to be about 16 (her age) his long silver hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, with some strands still in his face. He was tall, about 5' 9" – WAY taller than Kiya and he wore dark blue jeans and a lose fitting black T-shirt with a long black trench coat over it. Good-looking, sure. But not as good looking as _someone_ Kiya knew.

His grayish eyes stared into Kiya's silver ones.

"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here." His deep voice had a slight accent to it.

"Why do you care?" She snapped, angry at him for ruining her moment of peace.

"Well, it'd be a shame for someone so pretty to be overcome with an illness, if you don't mind me saying."

Kiya sighed. Normally, she would've kicked his ass for being so forward, but she just wasn't in the mood, instead she began to walk faster, but the boy kept up with her.

"May I ask your name."

"Sure." She answered, being a smart ass.

He chuckled. "What is it?"

"I said you could ask, I didn't say I would tell you." The boy sighed in defeat.

"Well, can I tell you _my_ name."

Kiya groaned in annoyance and stopped walking. She turned abruptly to face him, her hands on her hips. She gave him a look that said 'This better be quick.'

The boy smiled in triumph and Kiya's eyes widened. He looked familiar. "The name's Haku."

"Well, _Haku_, do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think so."

Kiya pulled her lips into a tight frown and she said, "Well, I'll be leaving now. Good-bye." To her surprise, the guy didn't follow. She began walking in the direction of the temple, which wasn't all that far and he called back to her, "See you later, Kiya!"

Kiya stopped dead in her tracks.

She had never told that boy her name. She spun around to see that he was gone.

……_what the……?_

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A/N: I want to end it now so badly, but I won't because tomorrow, I have to leave to go to my mom's house- again. Ugh, she really needs to get a computer. Okay, well, on with the story. You all better be damn grateful cause this chapter is taking me forever to write.

Wow, I sounded mean. I DIDN'T MEAN IT! I know you all will be grateful, so I have nothing to worry about.

READ ON!

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Kiya shook her head in confusion and flew back to the temple after making sure that no one was around to see her take off.

As soon as she stepped through the temple doors, she was met by something she wasn't used to.

Silence.

Kiya crept cautiously into the temple, her heartbeat getting faster. What if Jasaro had come back to attack the others? What if they were all dead?

"Hn. No one's dead. They're at the hospital." Came the stoic voice from the darkness of the living room. (A/N remember, it was cloudy, so it's dark outside.) He had obviously been reading her thoughts.

Kiya looked into the living room to see the familiar fire apparition sitting on the windowsill, looking outside. "Why are you still here, then?"

"I do not need to explain myself to you, onna."

_He was told to wait here for you._

_Wow, I haven't spoken to you in a while._

_Yeah, I know._

Kiya shook her head to rid it of her thoughts and she sighed. She really didn't want to go outside again, but it was for Keiko. No doubt she was the reason they were all at the hospital. But it was her fault in a way. If it weren't for Kiya even knowing Keiko, Keiko wouldn't have been attacked. She needed to go.

"Hiei, will you come with me to the hospital."

_Why did I even ask?_ Of course he was going to say no.

"Hn." He said as got off the windowsill and walked right past her towards the door, stopping when he was in front of it, obviously waiting for her.

_Woah, where the hell's the argument? Where's the rejection?_

_There is none._

_No shit, Sherlock._

Kiya blinked and stepped cautiously towards Hiei, who was staring at her from the corner of his eye. Staring…….not glaring…..What the hell?

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Hiei."

Hiei turned to Kiya and said two words…."Baka onna." Before Kiya could even suggest flying them there, Hiei picked Kiya up bridal style and quickly flitted from the temple, down the streets of Japan and to the hospital. When they got to the hospital entrance, Hiei still kept Kiya in his arms as he glared at the building, looking like he wanted to blow it up.

Which he probably did, but that's besides the point.

"Uh, Hiei. Can you put me do- oof." Hiei dropped her and she fell to the ground on her rear. "Damnit Hiei, you could've _set_ me down." She rubbed her back while she stood up.

"Hn." Kiya walked into the hospital with Hiei right next to her, glaring daggers at every ningen he saw. Kiya walked to the reception desk and said, "I need the room number for Yukimura Keiko."

"Room 331."

"Arigato." She bowed slightly to the woman, then walked with Hiei to the elevator. She pushed the button and waited for the door to open. While they were waiting, Kiya kept glancing at Hiei from the corner of her eye.

_He's so hot._

_Mhmm._

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hiei. "What, Onna?"

Oh good, he hadn't been reading her thoughts, he must've seen her looking at him . She answered with a quick, "Nothin'………"

……._cutie………_

She laughed to herself at her own thoughts and the door to the elevator opened, revealing that 3 teenage guys were already in there. They each glanced at her, then grinned and gave each other quick high-fives.

_Oh shit.._ she glanced at Hiei who was glaring at the three of them. Suddenly, Hiei's arm shot out and wrapped itself possessively around her waist. _Gee, someone's a little over-protective. Kami, he's so hard to figure out._

_Shows how dense you are.._

_What's that supposed to mean?_

_It means he likes you, baka._

_Oh, sure. The guy who drops me on the ground and refers to me as a baka onna likes me. I believe you._

_Ugh, I give up._

Kiya decided to stop arguing with herself before Hiei's Jagan decided to do a little probing. Instead, she focused more on the three teenage boys who were now cowering in fear in the far corner of the elevator, afraid that if they even moved, Hiei would murder them. She looked up to see that Hiei's glare had not yet subsided and his strong arm had not yet left her waist. Actually, quite the opposite. Hiei's grip on her had increased. If it got any stronger, Kiya was afraid she'd snap in two.

When the elevator dinged for the second floor, the door opened and the three guys quickly fought to be the first one out of the elevator, which made them look pretty stupid by the way. When they finally managed to squeeze themselves out of the door all at the same time, the door closed and Hiei and Kiya were left alone, in the awkward silence of the elevator.

And what made it even more awkward, was the fact that Hiei's arm had not yet left Kiya's waist…………. Not like she was complaining or anything.

The door dinged and Hiei released Kiya's waist so that they could walk. They made their way down the hallway, Kiya looking for room 331.

327. 329. Ah, 331, there it was. Kiya looked back at Hiei who was leaning against the opposite wall, his arms crossed. "Are you coming?"

"Hn." He stared directly into her eyes and Kiya became unnerved. She shrugged then walked into the room, immediately walking to the bedside. Everyone was there, surrounding the hospital bed. Genkai, Yukina, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Botan, Kurama. They all looked at her, acknowledging her presence, then turning back to the brown-haired girl who lay unconscious on the bed.

"She's in a coma. The loss of blood was too much for her." Came Kurama's sympathetic voice. Kiya looked sadly down at Keiko, her thoughts soon taking over.

_This is my fault. Keiko is hurt because of me. If I had never even existed, Keiko wouldn't be in a coma. Why am I even here? Am I just alive to cause people pain? Is that my purpose in li-_

"_It is not wise to question your existence, onna." (2)_

_And it's also not wise to barge in on people's thoughts, Hiei._

Kiya was taken from her thoughts when Genkai spoke. "We should leave." Everyone save Kiya nodded solemnly then made their way out of the hospital room. Kiya stayed by Keiko's bedside.

Yusuke turned to Kiya. "You coming?"

"No, I think I'll stay for a little longer. You guys go ahead, I'll meet you at the temple." Yusuke nodded sadly and before he turned around, Kiya added, "She'll be okay, Yusuke."

And with that, Yusuke left and Kiya turned to Keiko.

"I'm so sorry Keiko. This is all my fault. If I had just gone with Jasaro, you wouldn't be in a hospital right now…" She stopped talking when she heard the room door shut and lock. She looked up and saw...

….Hiei.

"What are you still doing here?" She questioned, but Hiei didn't answer. Instead, he walked to Kiya, looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Explain what you just said."

Kiya stayed silent and Hiei grew impatient. "NOW!" He barked and Kiya sighed in defeat.

"Jasaro….last night while I was sleeping, Jasaro came to me in another vision. He said that if I didn't join the elementals, the ones I'm close to would be slowly killed off- by him. He said that he would send a little 'proof' of what he could do, and that's what happened to Keiko. That bastard attacked her and it's all because I refused to go with him." All the time that Kiya was talking, she could see Hiei tightening his fists and his jaw clenching. She continued, even though a voice in the back of her head begged her to stop. "He said that we would rule side by side…….with me as his q-queen." Hiei began to growl. Kiya quickly spoke again. "But I don't want to be……..I just want everything to go back to normal." Kiya's eyes glazed over and without thinking, she threw her arms around Hiei and brought him into a hug, which was something she really needed. "I don't know what to do."

Hiei glanced down at the elemental with his stoic crimson gaze, before doing something that shocked both Kiya and himself. He wrapped his arms tightly around Kiya, pulling her closer to him. Hiei couldn't see it, but Kiya was smiling. She laid her head in the crook of his neck and he rested his chin on her head.

They just stood there, in the silent hospital room in each other's arms. "Thank you Hiei." Kiya's words were quiet, but audible.

Hiei was in two different positions mentally right now.

Half of him was kicking himself. Cursing at himself for ever letting himself get close to Kiya. For _hugging_ her. Hiei wasn't the hugging type, yet he was doing it anyway.

And the other half of him was confused- which is something that the Jaganshi didn't like in the least bit. He was confused as to how Kiya had gotten through his 'shell', why she had gotten through his 'shell'. Why was she even wasting her time on him, he was not worth her affection. He was The Forbidden Child, damnit, no one was supposed to love him.

And yet Kiya did.

"Aw, how sweet. Too bad I have to ruin your little _moment._" Came an unfamiliar male voice from the corner of the room. Kiya immediately let go of Hiei and he let go of her, and they both looked at the figure who the voice belonged to.

He was tall. 6' 0" easily. His long brown hair fell into his black eyes. His muscular build was hidden beneath a black suit. A long scar trailed down his right cheek to his neck. He looked to be about 40. Kiya almost immediately sensed that something wasn't right with this man and Hiei must've sensed it too, because he grabbed Kiya by the arm and pulled her behind him protectively.

"Look at you, Hiei. The Forbidden one trying to protect the one he has claimed? Tisk, tisk." The man stepped closer to them and Hiei unsheathed his katana. Kiya spoke.

"Who are you? How do you know Hiei's name?"

"The name's Markusho, darling, and I know a lot of things." He turned his attention to Hiei. "Oh, come now, put that away. I only came here to have a little chat with Kiya-chan."

Hiei didn't budge.

Markusho smiled evilly at Kiya and said, "You may know my partners. The other elementals. They told me to come here and relay a brief message to you…"

Hiei cut him off by disappearing and reappearing behind him. He swung his katana down towards Markusho's head, but Markusho merely transported over to Kiya. Before Hiei had the chance to attack Markusho again, he whispered something to Kiya. "Your time is nearing, darling.." Hiei attacked again. He brought his katana down on top of Markusho's head and……

……..it went right through him. Markusho grinned a sadistic smile a t Kiya before disappearing completely, yet his voice boomed once more throughout the tiny room. "If you chose not to join us, your friends will die. Every. Last. One of them…." He laughed. "Ciao, darling."

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Ok, NOW it's a cliffhanger.

..really

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	16. Chapter 16

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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**The following chapter is dedicated to my very good friend, Jessica, who is the coolest person I've ever met. YAY Jess!...say hi to Sam for me!**

**Chapter 16: Fun Night:**

Kiya had been at Genkai's temple now for about four hours. As soon as Markusho left, Kiya and Hiei left the hospital before any of the hospital's employees came to check out the source of the noise. But, as soon as they had gotten home, Hiei disappeared. So, having nothing else to do since Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara were all at their houses, Kiya retreated to her room in an attempt to get some sleep.

Which wasn't really working all that well.

Kiya sat up in bed, her eyes wide open, just staring at her far wall, thinking. You cant really blame her either. Markusho's words rang through her head.

"If you chose not to join us, your friends will die. Every. Last. One of them…Ciao darling."

Kiya groaned in frustration and attempted to smother her thoughts by placing her face firmly into a pillow- which didn't work. She sighed flopped back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, dropping the pillow back onto the bed. What was she going to do? No doubt Jasaro and the other elementals would strike again, harming someone else that was close to Kiya……unless she joined them.

No! Kiya refused, she would rather die. But- if she didn't, her friends would die.

GODDAMNIT! Kiya glanced at her clock and it was already 1:31 am. Kiya burrowed herself under her covers and closed her eyes, forcing her thoughts to shut the hell up so that she could sleep.

-------------------IN THE MORNING-------------------

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Mfm, Go-way!" Kiya mumbled then turned over, hiding her head under her pillow.

"Um, Kiya-chan. It is 7:20."

Kiya's head shot up, sending her pillow flying from the bed. School started at 7:30. Great- just great. Kiya yawned and rolled out of bed, literally. She landed on the ground with a loud 'thump.'

"Damnit," she mumbled. She stood up and walked to the bathroom. She showered quickly, not even getting all of the conditioner out of her hair. She then walked out of her bathroom with a towel on, picking her clothes for today. She picked a black t-shirt with a superman symbol on it and some faded light blue jeans. She put on her converses, and then walked out of her room to go downstairs, while brushing out her long, straight, midnight blue hair. She had thrown away her uniform a while ago, she hated skirts with a passion. She ran past the living room, stopping when seeing Yukina cooking something. She waved to Yukina who waved back before continuing to run outside. Once outside, Kiya lifted herself into the air and flew high, all the way to school, unaware of the black blur speeding beneath her.

When she got there, she quickly dove onto the roof, trusting that no one saw her. She entered the school from the roof and ran to class, not even bothering to go to her locker for her things. She jolted down the hallway, almost colliding with someone, before turning a sharp corner and sliding into her math class, right as the bell was ringing.

"HA!" Kiya shouted triumphantly. Eyebrows rose quickly and Kiya made her way to the back of the classroom, where Yusuke and Kuwabara sat and took her usual seat between the two.

The teacher, was about to address Kiya about actually being on time, when two people entered the room.

One of the people was the dean. The other person was someone who Kiya had met just recently.

Haku.

"Oh, welcome. Class, we have a new student." She turned to Haku. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Haku nodded and turned to the class, his gaze falling upon Kiya. He smirked coyly and he said, "My name's Turimo Haku. I'm an exchange student from England and my family used to live in Japan when I was five…" he left his sentence hanging and turned to the teacher, obviously having nothing else to say. The teacher smiled to the dean and he left, but not before sending a warning glance at Kiya and Yusuke, who just smiled back sweetly. The teacher looked for a seat for Haku and Kiya cursed to herself.

The seat in front of her was empty. The teacher grinned and pointed to the seat in front of Kiya. Haku made his way back to the seat, all the while staring at Kiya. Kiya let her head drop and her forehead made contact with the desk with a loud 'thud'.

She lifted her head up again, to see Haku looking at her through the corner of his eye. She also saw that basically every girl in class was either drooling at him or glaring at Kiya. She returned their glare- since she was tired, her glare wasn't as threatening as she would've liked it to be, but it got the job done. They turned away from her, their eyes wide, and Kiya snickered to herself.

That's about when Kiya fell asleep.

----------------

Poke. Poke.

……………..

Poke. Poke. Poke.

…………….

Pokepokepokepokepo-

"STOP POKING ME, DAMNIT!"

"Sor-ry! Jeez. It's time for lunch, Ms. PMS."

"I do _not_ have PMS, dumb ass. I'm just tired." Kiya yawned as she stretched her arms out above her head, letting out a small squeak. Thank Kami that this was the first day back at school. On the first day back from a break at their school, you would spend the whole day in your first hour class, just catching up on everything and getting your new schedules.

She stood up, but froze when she saw the only other person in the otherwise empty classroom besides Yusuke, Kuwabara and herself. Haku. He was leaning against the far wall and Yusuke bent down to whisper something in Kiya's ear. "He hasn't stopped looking at you all day. The guy's a creep."

Kiya nodded in his direction, then walked with Kuwabara and Yusuke past Haku, who kept watching, then outside to eat. Kiya cursed to herself when she realized she had forgotten her food at home. They made their way past the other students that were sharing this lunch hour over to an abandoned sakura tree about 100 feet from school. The trio plopped on the ground and when Kuwabara brought out his lunch box, Kiya snatched it.

"Hey!"

"Shove it, barf-for-brains. I'm hungry." Kuwabara scowled and Kiya rummaged through his box, finding a cup of ramen. It was cold, but food none-the-less. She grabbed his chopsticks and dug in, leaving him with a rice cake and a pork roll. Kuwabara snorted grumpily and ate his food.

Kiya turned her attention to the small group of girls that had approached Yusuke. "Hey, have you seen Keiko? She never showed up for school today."

Kiya watched as Yusuke's demeanor dropped and he replied solemnly, "No." That's what Koenma had instructed them all to say. To say that she had gotten hurt would result in nosy kids asking questions, and they couldn't afford letting any classified information slip-like the fact that she had gotten attacked by an elemental.

The girls left and Kiya looked sympathetically at Yusuke. Her eyes lit up- she had an idea. "Hey, Yusuke, I know what will cheer you up. A little fun night at the temple tonight. It would take your mind off Keiko and we _all_ need to have some fun." Kiya left out the part about her probably leaving soon. Yusuke looked at her and nodded weakly.

Kiya continued to eat her ramen until she felt something change. It was like a change in the aura's around her. One aura was familiar and very strong, and Kiya smiled to herself.

"You can come down now, Hiei."

"Hn." Kiya took it as a no. She looked above her to see Hiei sitting on a high branch in the tree. She would've flown up there, but there were ningens around. So she placed her ramen on the ground, which soon got snatched back by Kuwabara, and she began climbing the tree, thankful that she wasn't wearing a uniform. Hiei's hawk-like stare followed her as she reached up, grabbed Hiei's branch and she sat on the one parallel to it. Hiei was sitting with his back to the trunk of the tree, one leg on the branch, the other hanging loosely to the side. Kiya just sat on her branch facing him, both feet hanging. Hiei turned his gaze forward again, watching nothing it seemed like.

She stared at him, tracing his every facial feature with her sharp silver eyes.

Hiei turned his head swiftly to face her. "What, onna."

"I have a name."

"Hn." He turned his attention forward and she suddenly had the urge to hit him. She smiled at the thought, but the smile soon faded as she heard and felt someone knocking on the base of the tree. She looked down to see the one person she didn't want to deal with right now, his snobby, pretty boy sneer directed at Kiya.

"What do want, Haku?"

"To talk."

"Too bad."

"Okay," he began to walk away, letting out an over-exaggerated sigh, "I guess I'll just have to throw away your party invitation…" he left his sentence hanging.

Kiya was going to let him keep walking, she didn't care about some stupid party, but that damned spirit detective just HAD to open his mouth.

"Party?"

…_do……not…choke……Yusuke…_

Haku turned around, a sly grin appearing on his face. "Yeah. I got a hold of the skeleton key for the school, so on Friday night, I'm unlocking the doors and I'm throwing a party." He reached into his pocket and pulled out 2 folded pieces of paper, handing them to Yusuke and Kuwabara. He looked up at Kiya, who jumped down from the tree and asked, "How did you get a key?" she crossed her arms.

Haku just smirked. "I have my sources."

"Aren't you worried about people telling the principal about your little _party_?"

"Nope."

Kiya raised an eyebrow and Haku held out an invitation to her. Kiya groaned and took it, admitting her defeat. Haku smirked then let out a quick, 'Later,' before leaving, probably going to hand out more invitations.

Kiya looked down at the piece of paper in her hand.

**When: 9:30 pm-midnight on Friday **

**Where: The school**

Short, sweet and to the point. Kiya shoved the paper into her pocket as Yuske and Kuwabara started yelling, "PAR-TY, PAR-TY!"

……_par-ty……_ Kiya cheered sarcastically in her head.

----------------------------------------------------

Kiya groaned in frustration. She was back at the temple now, and was supposed to be setting up for her little 'fun night', but no. She had to train. With Hiei-the king of mood swings. Yippie.

They were again in the clearing in the forest, except this time, Kiya didn't have a katana in her hand. Instead, she had a pair of identical Sais'. The hilts of the Sais' were colored a deep midnight blue with small silver cords tied around the base. The blades were a sheer black metal which reflected the sunlight nicely.

Kiya had already put on the belt in which the Sais' went into and had the Sais' held properly in her hands. She looked quizzically up at Hiei, who had his stoic gaze on her.

"Where's the katana?"

"Hn, you will not be fighting with one today."

"Why not?"

"The fox believes that the Sais' will be easier for you to handle."

Kiya shrugged and took her usual fighting stance; her right foot in front of the left, both separated by about 2 feet and her knees bent, her hands up and ready to attack and defend. She was somewhat worried about how she was going to fight Hiei when her blades were each about a foot long and Hiei's katana was about 26 inches. Not to mention that his blade was Way thicker than Kiya's blades were.

Kiya looked up, shutting out her thoughts and forcing herself to focus. She looked Hiei straight in the eye, and he looked frozen for a second……Kiya remembered something that Kurama had said to her earlier.

------------FLASHBACK-----------

"……just because his mating season is over does not mean that Hiei will cease to be attracted to and protective of you. During his mating season, his demon side had chosen you as a 'target', and even after his mating season has ended, Hiei is still very fond of you."

Kiya nodded emptily, thinking. A question went through her mind and she looked back to Kurama. "What is a 'Forbidden child?'" Kiya had heard Markusho call Hiei the 'Forbidden one' and had once heard someone talking about the 'Forbidden child'. She had no clue what they were talking about.

"I think I'll leave that for Hiei to answer."

----------END FLASHBACK---------

Kiya shook her head to rid it of Kurama's voice.

Then, Hiei disappeared. Here they go again. Kiya tensed almost immediately, looking around her frantically for any sign of her gothic-looking acquaintance. A small sound to her left caused her to thrash her head to that side, just in time to see Hiei in the air above her, aiming his katana for her head. She quickly raised both her Sais' and made the blades cross. Hiei's katana hit right smack in the middle of the 'x' made by Kiya's Sais' with a loud clank of metal. Thinking quickly, Kiya brought down one of her Sais' and slashed it towards Hiei's chest. She didn't have time to see if she had hit him, because he soon flitted out of view again. She quickly returned to her original posture and waited for Hiei to attack. Her senses heightened and she felt him behind her. She quickly used her ability to float to flip backwards over Hiei, who was running towards her. Obviously, Hiei had anticipated her move, because he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, skillfully swinging his katana towards Kiya's torso. When Kiya realized that Hiei was retaliating, it was too late. In a matter of seconds, the bottom of her shirt was ripped open and a small line of blood trickled down her stomach. Thank kami Hiei hadn't cut into her too deeply. She looked up and glared at Hiei, who was now sheathing his katana, looking stoically at Kiya.

"Hn. You are weak." He hissed.

Kiya's eyes widened in surprise. Where had THAT come from!

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Kiya sheathed her Sais' and turned around, about to fly back to the temple. She was stopped by two strong hands being placed on her shoulders, stopping her from moving. Kiya looked up into the crimson orbs that were glaring daggers into her widened silver eyes.

"You are not able to defend yourself. You will be taken away all because you are WEAK!" Throughout his exclamation, Hiei's voice had gotten gradually louder until the point that he was yelling at the end. Kiya flinched from the tightening grip on her shoulders, but said nothing. She was frozen in place, just staring at Hiei. Where had this sudden outburst of anger come from? She could not bring herself to look away from his eyes, but from the corner of her eye, she could see a thin trail of crimson trailing down his black tank-top. She had gotten him.

Just as suddenly as Hiei had confronted her, he left. Flitting away to leave Kiya standing there, questions running through her head, her eyes still staring into the place where Hiei's eyes once were. A sigh escaped her lips and Kiya finally allowed herself to blink. She looked around herself, seeing that she was all alone. Normally, she would've been relieved that she was alone, but now she was just lonely.

_What did he mean by that?_

She sighed again, and floated sadly back to the temple, attempting to put aside her now-confused feelings and set up the temple for her little 'fun night'.

She was going to need this night a lot more than she thought she would.

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Knock. Knock. Knock.

Kiya quickly finished putting the bowl of chips and soda on the kitchen table and she ran to the door. She flung it open to see Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan, Kurama and Shizuru. (A/N Hiei is already in the house- in his room. Yukina is in the living room with Kiya.)

Kiya raised her eyes at the unexpected extras. She was only expecting Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama. She was going to need more chips.

"We brought back up." Stated Yusuke plainly, seeing the confused look on the blue-haired girl's face. Kiya nodded in understanding and stepped aside, letting them all in. They took off their shoes respectably at the door and they all walked to the living room, with Kuwabara snatching the chips form the kitchen and bringing them with him.

When in the living room, Kuwabara's eyes landed on the small girl sitting on the couch and he immediately dropped the bowl of chips.

"YUKINA!" He quickly ran to the petite girl and took one of her small hands in his. "Yukina, my love," his face flushed and Yukina smiled at him.

_How can she stand having him touching her? She is truly brave…_

"So, Kiya. When does this little 'fun night' begin?" Yusuke turned his attention to Kiya. She looked at him and could see that he was trying desperately to mask his concern for his life long friend that was in the hospital. Kiya smiled wetly. She was going to do her best to make this night perfect for everyone- to try to take their minds off of Keiko.

"It starts now," she looked out the window and smiled, pleased to see that it as already dark. They all still had school tomorrow, but frankly, none of them cared. Keiko would have been very disappointed. "Lets play a game. Hide-and-go-seek tag. In the dark." Kiya smiled as she saw Yusuke's demeanor immediately brighten. That was his favorite game. Sure, a simple game could not tear his thoughts from his beloved Keiko, but it would make him lighten up a little and at least have _some_ fun. Keiko would've wanted that.

(A/N wow, I'm making it sound like she's dead. KEIKO IS NOT DEAD!)

Kiya smirked to herself as everyone else in the room diverted their attention to her. She inhaled then shouted, "Onetwothree NOT IT!"

"NOT IT!" Yusuke was quick to respond.

"NOT IT!" Yelled Shizuru.

"NOT IT!" Kiya was surprised that Kurama actually yelled.

"Not it." Ah, quiet and innocent Yukina. Kiya was surprised that she knew to call out those two words. She didn't seem like the type to play H.G.S.T. (Hide-and-go-seek tag)

"NOT IT!" Botan giggled.

"………….." Everyone looked at Kuwabara. "……What's it?" Kiya rolled her eyes at his stupidity. Surely he wasn't so stupid that he didn't know the rules of H.G.S.T.

"You're it, dumb ass."

Kuwabara kept that look of stupidity on his face, even having a little drool dribble down his chin as he looked around at everyone, wanting an explanation.

Yusuke groaned and told Kuwabara what 'it' meant, giving him a quick smack for being so dumb. Kuwabara gave him a quick 'hey!' before Kiya declared the rules of the game.

"Alright everyone. Here's the deal. You can hide anywhere you want within and outside of the temple. You can NOT go into the forest or past the temple's steps. Remember, this is hide-and-go-seek TAG. So, if someone sees you, you are not 'it' until they tag you, so feel free to run away all you want. The living room couch is base and NO powers allowed." She finalized, referring mostly to herself and Botan for their flying abilities. She turned to Kuwabara. "Alright, you will sit on the couch with your eyes closed and count to a hundred, assuming that you can count.." That earned another 'hey!' "…..Do NOT open your eyes, that's cheating. You cheat and so help me kami, I will chop of your fingers." Kuwabara gulped and Kiya smiled. "Okay everyone, as soon as Kuwabara starts counting, run and hide, alright?"

Scattered 'all rights' and one 'Okey dokey' came from the living room's occupants. They all turned to Kuwabara who began counting. Not paying attention to everyone else, Kiya quickly dashed outside, knowing exactly where she was going to hide. She jolted down the temple stairs, smiling as the wind whipped her long blue hair around. She ran around the temple to the back. There next to the wall was a small bush, yet big enough for Kiya to get inside of it and hide.

Kiya had a reputation among everyone she knew that she was the best at H.G.S.T. No one could ever find her, and she wasn't going to stop being the best now. No one would see her in this bush. After much difficulty and getting cut like 15 times from the damn branches, Kiya finally settled down, resting her thighs on her feet, crouching- ready to run if the time came.

After about 5 minutes, Kiya finally heard Kuwabara yell. "ONE HUNDRED! READY OR NOT HERE I COME!" Kiya figured that he must've lost count a couple of times. She heard him run in the opposite direction of where she was hiding and she smiled. She quickly and quietly climbed out of the bush and began to creep to the front of the temple. While walking, she began to think that Hiei would kick ass at this game…too bad he hasn't come out of his room since their little quarrel in the field. Kiya crept to the side of the temple and peeked over the side when she heard no noises. That was a mistake. Kuwabara was walking right to the place that Kiya was. He caught a glimpse of her head and shouted, "HA! I see you!" He began to run after her, but she was already scrambling back the way she had come. When she ran past the bush, she contemplated re-hiding, but she knew that would be another mistake.

Kiya knew that Kuwabara was right on her tail, she could hear him. She quickly turned the corner and looked up to see an open window…..right next to a tree. YES! She quickly jumped up onto the lower branch and began to climb as quickly as she could into the high window. Kuwabara had just rounded the corner when Kiya jumped unseen into the open window. She sat against the wall underneath the window and listened as his footsteps got farther away. She sighed in relief and stood, finally looking around the room. It was dark. The walls, the bed….everything was black or a very deep blue. There was a double bed in the middle of the room and other than a small table next to the bed, the room was bare. Kiya would've given in to her nosy nature and looked around the room more, to find out whose it was, but she needed to get to base before she was declared 'it'. She was about to walk out the door, when a noise came from the door next to her, like a shower running- the room's bathroom, she guessed. She looked at the door and noticed that light-along with some steam- was coming from the bottom.

Shit! Whoever this room belonged to was taking a shower! Kiya quickly ran to the door in an attempt to open it and she was so caught up in her struggle, that she didn't even hear the water flow stop and a door open.

"What. Are. You. Doing. In. here!" growled a cold voice form behind Kiya. She slowly turned around and literally fainted when she saw what was behind her.

Hiei……with only his pants on………wet…….black hair falling around his face due to the weight of the water……….

To say that she 'blushed' would be an understatement……

……to say that that was an 'understatement'…would be an understatement.

"…uh……er……" Kiya tried desperately to come up with an excuse as to why she was in Hiei's room, which wasn't all that hard because the truth was believable, but she lost her train of thought when her gaze drooped to Hiei's naked chest. The fact that he was all wet and his hair was down was a HUGE plus.

"Leave." He stated plainly in his cold voice that sent shivers down Kiya's spine.

Kiya didn't need to be told twice. She scrambled to her feet, letting her eyes fall once more to his amazing torso- before high tailing it out of there.

She quickly tried to shove the thoughts of Hiei out of her head and ran down the stairs, down the hallway and into the living room. She saw that everyone was already on or touching the couch, but there was no sign of Kuwabara. She quickly jolted into the living room, not seeing the figure that was hiding behind the wall.

A hand made contact with her shoulder and an annoying voice called out, "GOTCHA!"

"Damnit.." Kiya muttered to herself as she glared at the ugly orange haired giant next to her.

So that's how the night went. All 7 of them played H.G.S.T. for 3 whole hours! Hey, that games addicting! Kuwabara ended up being it most often…no surprise there. After they were all tired of H.G.S.T., Yukina announced that they should all go to the hot springs that were located right outside of Genkai's temple.

The hot springs were a blast. Botan and Yukina had taken off their kimonos and Kurama had taken off his shirt while everyone else just kept all their clothes on and they got in.

Kiya decided to pull a little prank on everyone.

While no one was looking, Kiya ducked her head beneath the water and again, when her body was totally submerged, the familiar fluttering in her stomach returned and she smiled to herself. Kami- she loved being in the water so much. She immediately tried her best to dodge the bunches of legs that were flailing to get to the bottom of the springs- which was pretty hard to do because she couldn't see underwater

She could breathe underwater….but not see….how screwed up is that?

Thankfully, Kiya had discovered her little 'talent' in the bathtub and never told anyone….so no one would be the wiser when they figured out she was no longer at the surface…..

……Which wasn't very long.

"Where did Kiya go?" Kiya could hear Kurama ask from above the surface. Did you ever notice that when you're underwater, you can hear everything happening above the water, but not in it?

"I don't know." Kiya snickered to herself at what she guessed was Botan's response, but was careful not to send any air bubbles to the surface. She looked up as she saw the blurry images above her starting to get out of the Springs. Once everyone but one person was left in the springs, Kiya began to smoothly swim to the surface, making no sudden movements as to not be seen.

She inhaled deeply before wrapping a small bet firm hand around the person's ankle and roughly yanking them into the water. She could hear them yelp. She quickly swam to the surface to see their facial expression.

Yusuke sputtered to the top and his arms flailed everywhere, sending the water flying everywhere.

"WHAT THE FU---!" Yusuke looked around him and his gaze fell upon the smirking elemental next to him. "KIYA!"

"…guilty.." she muttered, then broke out laughing. The rest of the group was right behind her, but their laughing wasn't as loud.

A small beeping that sounded like it was bubbling broke their laughs. "What's that?" Kiya asked and Yusuke looked like he was thinking…then his eyes widened. He reached underwater into his pants pocket and pulled out a small round compact mirror, that was still beeping like it was broken. He smile sheepishly and opened it up.

"What do you want binky breath?" he spoke into the opened mirror. Kiya, wanting to know what the hell he was doing (A/N she has never seen the mirror before) climbed over his shoulder to look inside it and she saw Koenma.

"Hey! Sup, Koenma?"

"I need to talk to you Kiya. Now. Tell Botan to make a portal for you to get here. Come alone." He spoke quickly, and then the screen went black.

Kiya'e eyebrows rose and she looked sheepishly at Botan. "Uh…..I guess I need a portal…"

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	17. Chapter 17

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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Previously:

"I need to talk to you Kiya. Now. Tell Botan to make a portal for you to get here. Come alone." He spoke quickly, and then the screen went black.

Kiya'e eyebrows rose and she looked sheepishly at Botan. "Uh…..I guess I need a portal…"

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**Chapter 17: Transformation:**

"They're up to something…" Came Koenma's voice as soon as the portal behind Kiya disappeared in a poof of blue smoke.

"Who's up to what?"

"The elementals. They're up to something. Have a seat, Kiya." Koenma motioned towards the seat in front of his desk and Kiya sat down in it. She tried to suppress her laughter at the sight of the small prince sitting in the chair that was WAY to big for him.

Compensation? ….maybe…

"What makes you say that?"

"We've been getting reports of the energy level in the North-western Makai escalading. The energy is neither demon nor spirit….so that pretty much leaves the elementals."

"..So I guess we know where they're hiding now. But what does that have to do with anything?….."

Koenma quickly pulled a remote from his desk and pointed it at the far wall behind Kiya. "I'm glad you asked." Koenma looked past Kiya and at the screen, so she followed his gaze. On the screen was information…lots of it. Koenma began to read the information aloud.

"….It is said that when the time is nearing for the prophecy of the elementals to be fulfilled, the elementals will undergo a transformation. No one knows exactly what kind of transformation they will endure, but it is known that each elemental undergoes a different one. This transformation will take place every other night at the beginning, lasting for only about 3 hours. As the time for the prophecy grows nearer, the transformation will take place every night, all night, until the time comes- and the elementals will remain in this form until the prophecy is fulfilled…"

Silence……

"Well I'm screwed….Do you think that that's what the increasing energy is?"

"I don't think, I know. You will have to be very careful these next few nights. I don't know when you're going to start transforming, but it will be soon."

"do you know if this transformation is……painful?" _Jeez, I sound like a wimp!_

"I don't know….." he was cut off bye George crashing into the office.

"Lord Koenma! We need these papers signed ASAP!"

Koenma groaned. "I'm sorry, but I have work to do. You must leave now."

Kiya got up from her chair, rolling her eyes at the bald ogre before stepping into the newly created portal, courtesy of the baby at the desk.

As soon as she stepped through the portal, she was surprised that everyone had gone home. Only Yukina was still in the living room, waiting for her.

"Hey Yukina. Where is everyone?"

"They left because they said it was late. They told me to tell you thank you for the party, though."

Kiya nodded and gave Yukina a weak smile- she was too busy worrying about this whole transformation thing.

"Is something wrong, Kiya-chan?"

"No Yukina. But thanks for the concern. Oh, and please, just call me Kiya."

"Okay, Kiya!"

Kiya smiled and she made her way to the stairs, calling a quick, 'good night' back to Yukina. Kiya climbed the stairs slower than usual. What was going to happen? When was it going to happen? Kiya reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner….

….only to have her way blocked by none other than her favorite fire apparition.

"Hn. Liar."

"Hello to you, too Hiei. What did I lie about?" Kiya crossed her arms.

Hiei ignored her question. "What did the fool tell you?"

"I assume you're talking about Koenma. If he wanted me to go alone, then he obviously didn't want anyone else to know what he told me, therefore, I'm not telling." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

Hiei gave her one of his infamous, spine shivering glares and Kiya gulped.

"Hn." Hiei walked right past Kiya to go downstairs. He didn't need her to tell him. He could use his Jagan to find out what the toddler had told her.

"Why do you care, Hiei?" Her question made him stop dead in his tracks. She continued, their backs to each other. "Why did you care about Youko kissing me? Why did you wait in my room while I was recovering, then sleep next to me? Why were you so protective of me when Markusho showed up in Keiko's hospital room- and why did you act all possessive of me when we saw those guys in the elevator?"

There was an unbearable silence for a moment, then Hiei spoke. "Hn. I do not need to explain myself to you." And with that, Kiya heard his graceful footsteps trail downstairs.

Kiya closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to believe what was just said.

_Let me get this straight._

_During his mating season, Hiei chose me as his 'target'._

_Then, when we went to go see Keiko, he never argued or rejected me, AND he became a little possessive of me in the elevator. _

_He stays in my room with me when I'm recovering._

_He nearly decapitates Youko for kissing me._

_And all those times he kissed you, even if it was just because it was his mating season…_

_Yeah! So what is going on?_

…_I have no clue…_

_You aren't helping.._

Kiya's attention was taken from her thoughts when an immense pain shot through her right palm. Taken aback, she bit her lip to keep herself from yelping in pain and turned her right hand over to look at her palm.

There, engraved in a dark midnight blue, was the elemental sign for water. Suddenly, two lines shot past Kiya's palm and across her wrist, one silver and the other blue. They went their separate ways up Kiya's forearm, the silver one going to the left, the blue to the right. They spiraled quite quickly up and around Kiya's right arm, then disappeared into her shirt.

"What the hell….?" She whispered. It was then that she noticed that the colored lines left from the two traveling lines were starting to heat up, steam appearing from them. The heat seared through little lines that she could feel that were being spread across her body, and they kept getting hotter.

Quickly, Kiya ran to her room, shutting and locking the door behind her. The hot lines had now gone across her chest and were spreading down past her torso. To get a better view of everything, she quickly took off her shirt. (A/N hey, it's okay if you're alone!). She ran to her bathroom and closed the door behind herself. Gazing at her reflection in the large mirror, Kiya's eyes widened.

The lines had indeed spread to her torso. The blue and silver trails spiraled around her entire upper body, creating small colored spirals on each of her shoulders. The lines glowed with a dim white light before they started to burn painfully, steam erupting from each line. She could hear the searing of her flesh and she moaned in pain. She doubled over, cradling her upper half and her straight blue hair fell around her. She watched in wonder as her hair started to grow, almost making it touch the floor. She up righted herself and saw that her hair now had black and silver streaks and tips, and was now just above her waist.

Her focus moved to her face as Kiya tried to swallow her pain. Her irises were still silver, but around her irises, where it used to be white, was now a devastating midnight blue. Her lips were now blue as well.

But her odd eyes and lips was not was she was concerned about. It was the small tear drop birthmark by her right eye. It was glowing now- black, blue and silver swirled around in it like a vortex. Erupting from he tear mark were small droplets of water, falling out of her mark like tears.

Kiya's nails grew into inch long silver claws and Kiya could feel her two canine teeth growing as well, creating pearl white fangs.

Finally, after 10 minutes of searing heat, the pain stopped-thankfully. Kiya lifted her pant leg and saw that the blue and sliver lines had flown all the way down to her feet, ending in small spirals on top of them.

Kiya took one last confused look into the mirror.

She was quite shocking. Her eyes added a very radiant look in contrast to her lips. Her long hair flowed around her, having the appearance of weightlessness-like it was underwater.

Kiya groaned. She was going to have to keep this a secret.

Which is not easy to do when you live with a psychic.

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As soon as Kiya had left, Koenma finished reading the information on the screen.

"……Within 10 days of transformation, the elemental will feel uncontrollably drawn to the place where the ritual of dominance is to occur. They will find themselves unconsciously needing to go to the place that beckons them, and they will have no control over whether they go or not.

"The location of said place is unknown….."

Koenma sighed to himself.

Kiya was in for it, and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.

He needed to figure out a plan to save the three worlds and quickly. He figured his father wouldn't be too happy if he came home from a business trip to find that all the three worlds were under the siege of four elementals.

Not happy at all….

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	18. Chapter 18

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Previously:

Kiya took one last confused look into the mirror.

She was quite shocking. Her eyes added a very radiant look in contrast to her lips. Her long hair flowed around her, having the appearance of weightlessness-like it was underwater.

Kiya groaned. She was going to have to keep this a secret….

…Which is not easy to do when you live with a psychic.

------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Kiya had left, Koenma finished reading the information on the screen.

"……Within 10 days of transformation, the elemental will feel uncontrollably drawn to the place where the ritual of dominance is to occur. They will find themselves unconsciously needing to go to the place that beckons them, and they will have no control over whether they go or not.

"The location of said place is unknown….."

Koenma sighed to himself.

Kiya was in for it, and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.

He needed to figure out a plan to save the three worlds and quickly. He figured his father wouldn't be too happy if he came home from a business trip to find that all the three worlds were under the siege of four elementals.

Not happy at all….

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**Chapter 18: Steamy Kisses and Pop-Tarts vs. Sweet Snow:**

Kiya was still in her other form……and she was about to lose it!

She. Needed. FOOD!

Koenma said that the transformation would only last for 3 hours…..which meant she had half an hour to go. She wouldn't _dare_ go outside of her room in this form. No way. What would people think?

….wait? Since when does she care about what people think?

Kiya sat on the floor by her door, her ear pressed up against the wood, her stomach growling. She hadn't heard any noises downstairs for the last twenty minutes except for Genkai announcing that she was going to the market and that Yukina could come with her.

So that left only one person in the house besides herself- and she did not want _him_ of all people to see her like this. She wasn't ugly or anything,…just---different.

The familiar grumbling noise erupted from her stomach once more and she scolded it quietly. "Shut up!"

Kiya made up her mind. She was hungrier than hell and she was going to get some food. She just hoped that Hiei had decided to go outside and train or something.

Kiya stood quietly—if Hiei was in the house, she wanted to be able to get to the kitchen and back without being noticed.

Fat chance of that happening, but still- the girl had her hopes.

She carefully turned the doorknob, peeking into the hallway to make sure it was clear before stepping out of her room. She tip-toed quickly down the hallway, slowing down when passing Hiei's room so that he wouldn't hear her if he were in there.

When she passed his door, she floated quickly downstairs and into the kitchen, silently thanking no one in particular for her ability to fly. When in the kitchen, she floated to the pantry, immediately grabbing her beloved box of pop-tarts and turning to return to her room. But the figure leaning against the kitchen doorway made her stop, almost dropping her box.

There Hiei was -stoic as ever, his eyes closed-arms crossed. Surely he had to have seen the way she looked-why wasn't he going all crazy?

"Hn. So this is your true form." It was more of a statement than a question.

"No. This is just a temporary appearance." She said, trying to cover up the truth.

"Don't lie, onna. I know about the transformation." He opened his eyes now, the crimson orbs locking with her silver and blue ones.

Damn that stupid third eye of his….

"I'm leaving now, good bye." Kiya turned around. Hiei wasn't going to let her out that way, so she'd just have to leave through the other door. But as soon as she turned around, she was, again, met by Hiei blocking her path. "Can I help you with something?"

"Hn. You're staying here."

"What? Why?"

"You're staying." He repeated. Clearly, he wanted to see what happened during her transformation. Kiya groaned. She wasn't going to win the argument- plus, she was too hungry to put up a fight. So, she plopped down on the counter, crossed her legs and opened up a packet of pop-tarts, giving in to her hunger. Hiei on the other hand just stood there, watching Kiya eat, which was very nerve wracking for the young elemental.

Kiya looked up from her pop-tart to the Jaganshi who had not stopped staring at her. She glared at him.

"Hn. You're obsessed with those _things."_

"I am not obsessed!" She stated, appalled, after she had swallowed the piece of pop-tart in her mouth.

Hiei just smirked and walked closer to her, not breaking their eye contact. Kiya's stomach immediately began to flutter. Hiei just kept on walking closer to Kiya until he was right up against the counter, inches from Kiya- who was at this point frozen.

Kiya wasn't sure what Hiei was going to do. He was just standing there in front of her, looking all emotionless….focused……stoic……incredibly hot…….

….she really needed to stop thinking like that. Kiya saw Hiei's smirk deepen and his Jagan glowed from beneath his bandana.

_Dammit!_

Kiya blinked, desperately trying to clear her mind before Hiei's Jagan could find some of her more….naughty thoughts. As soon as she opened her eyes again, she felt a weight being quickly lifted from her right hand. Hiei's eyes were still looking into hers, but she finally broke the stare to look down at her hand…..

……that was now empty……

The realization hit Kiya almost immediately. She looked back at Hiei, giving him her greatest death glare…..which of course had no effect on the Jaganshi.

"Hand. Over. The. Pop. Tart."

Her eyes lowered from Hiei's amused gaze to the silver package in his bandaged hand. She could've sworn she heard a low growl being emitted from her throat.

_Oh no! I'm turning into Hiei!_

She quickly shot out her hand in an attempt to retrieve her beloved pop-tart, but Hiei merely stepped back so that her pop-tart was unreachable from Kiya's spot on the counter.

Kiya then realized that by caring that Hiei had taken her pop-tart was only proving his point….which was of course true, but she sure as hell didn't want Hiei to know that. So, she crossed her arms and scoffed. "I don't care about the pop-tart. You can have it." As much as it pained her to say those words, she kept a straight face.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kiya took one reassuring look at the box of pop-tarts next to her.

_You can have the pop-tart, fire-boy. I have a whole box._

Just then, Hiei's smirk deepened and Kiya mentally slapped herself.

_Keep your thoughts quiet, dumb ass. He can hear them!_

Kiya made a desperate attempt to dive for her box before Hiei could get to them, but it was too late. Hiei took the box and flitted to the other end of the kitchen, the box beside him on the table, the opened pop-tart still in his hand. Suddenly, Hiei did the unthinkable.

He raised his left hand and with it broke off a piece of the pop-tart.

Kiya's eyes widened. "Hiei…..don't…" she warned.

Hiei just kept their eye contact and raised his hand to his mouth, the pop-tart brushing against his lips.

"…….No……put the pop-tart down Hiei." Kiya suddenly decided that her damn pride could wait. Her pop-tart was in danger! "…Hiei……Please put the pop-tart dow---NO!" Kiya screamed when Hiei quickly popped the pop-tart into his mouth. Kiya felt like she was about to cry. "You damn…." Her words stopped short as Kiya was blessed with an idea.

Hiei was going to_ hate_ her. Revenge is oh so sweet.

Before Hiei had time to read Kiya's mind, Kiya jumped off the counter and ran to the freezer. She opened the freezer door and pulled out the gigantic tub of Cookie's n' Cream. She opened the tub and turned to smirk at Hiei, a menacing look in her blue and silver eyes.

"Onna…" He growled.

"Hand over the pop-tart and the pop-tart box and your precious sweet snow will be spared."

Hiei was never one to give into a threat, especially one coming from someone so small. So, instead he smirked. Of course he was worried about his sweet snow, but he'd be damned if he'd show it. Hiei broke off another piece of pop-tart and in response, Kiya dipped two fingers into the ice-cream. At the same time, they both raised their hands to their mouths and glared at each other.

"This is your last chance, Hiei. Hand over my pop-tarts and your sweet snow will be unharmed."

"Hn. No."

They both opened their mouths simultaneously and just stood there, looking at each other.

It all happened so quickly. Before either of them knew what was going on, they were at each other's throats, pop-tarts and ice cream sprawled across the kitchen. Kiya smirked at Hiei and raised her ice-cream covered fingers to her lips.

She was suddenly against the wall, a katana at her throat. "Don't. You. Dare."

She grinned at the Koorime. "I knew you'd see it my way." From previous experience, Kiya's consciousness was screaming at her to not eat the ice cream, but of course, she didn't listen.

Her fingers were soon in her mouth, the ice cream sliding down her throat and Hiei's katana lowered from her throat.

"You're going to regret that." He said, his voice dangerously low and Kiya gulped. She backed up as Hiei stepped towards her.

"N-now Hiei, no need to be rash…."

"Hn. I'll show you rash." Before Kiya could even blink, she found her self being pinned on the ground by the strong, sweet snow addicted Jaganshi, with him straddling her lap.

"Jeez, Hiei. It was just some ice cream."

Hiei said nothing, but continued to glare down at her. She raised her hands and pushed against Hiei, trying to get him off of her, but her hands were declared immobile when Hiei pinned them against the ground above her head with both of his hands.

"Hiei…..get…..off……of-" She was cut off by Hiei lowering his head and extinguishing her voice with his lips. Kiya couldn't have been more surprised. First, Hiei hated her for stealing his sweet snow, now he was kissing her?

Oh well. Kiya wasn't complaining- not at all. She soon closed her eyes and kissed Hiei back, deepening it. She would've wrapped her arms around Hiei's neck, but they were currently being held above her head by Hiei. Oh well. She could feel Hiei's muscles tense and she suddenly heard a quiet but audible moan coming from Hiei and a simmering coming from their……lips?

Hiei suddenly pulled back from Kiya, his eyes widened slightly. From her position, Kiya could see a small line of steam coming from Hiei's and her own lips. It was then that Kiya noticed the beads of sweat on Hiei's forehead, clearly indicating pain of some sort.

Hiei removed his hands from her wrists and looked at them. Kiya brought one hand to her lips and felt them quizzically. She looked up at Hiei's hands to see that they too were simmering. Hiei looked down at Kiya and by the look in his eyes; she could tell that he knew nothing more about what was going on than she did.

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

In this form, Kiya could not have any skin-to-skin contact with Hiei, for she was water and he was fire-her opposite. She was suddenly thankful that both of them had clothes on that shielded their bodies from each other. Kiya suddenly began to feel like this was her fault and she opened her mouth, "Hiei- I'm so sor-" She was cut off by the sound of the front door opening.

Kiya looked to the front door and Hiei was off of her and gone in a matter of seconds. Kiya sighed inwardly, curing whoever interrupted their…moment. Before Kiya could get off the floor, she heard a raspy voice coming from the front door.

"Kiya, what are you doing on the floor?" (A/N you can see into the kitchen from the door) Kiya turned her head to Genkai who, along with Yukina, was coming in through the front door, groceries in hand.

"Uh….err……did you know that you have a very lovely ceiling, Genkai?"

Genkai looked doubtfully at Kiya. "You are a bad liar, dimwit."

Kiya sighed in defeat and glanced at the clock.

**10:45 pm.**

"I'm going to bed." Kiya mumbled as she walked towards the stairs.

"Good night, Kiya!'

"Good night, Yukina."

Kiya walked up the stairs, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She was suddenly exhausted. So much so that she didn't even bother to go back into the kitchen and retrieve her pop-tarts, the whole reason she's come downstairs in the first place. It was then that she realized that Yukina and Genkai had said nothing about her new change in appearance. Joyfully, she looked down at her arms to see that they were now back to normal, no more silver and blue lines.

She smiled to herself, obviously glad that it was over, but then her thoughts trailed back to Hiei. She brought a shaky hand to her lips once more and felt sorrowful. Water destroys the fire…that's basically how it goes. In her true form, she was like Hiei's kryptonite. When they were kissing, she had caused him pain- and it was all her fault.

"_It's not your fault."_ She heard Hiei's voice in her mind. For a moment, she thought she was going crazy, but then she remembered that Hiei was a telepath.

_Baka._ She scolded herself.

'_Where are you, Hiei?'_

"_No where that concerns you."_

Kiya sighed to herself. He was so…..Hiei-ish. _'Okay. Well, I'm sorry about earlier…you know…when…'_

"_It wasn't your fault."_ He reminded her and she smiled to herself. Even when he was trying to be rough-and-tough, I-don't-give-a-damn Hiei, he still managed to be reassuring, whether he meant to or not.

'_Thanks for making me feel better, Hiei. Good night.'_ She said to him telepathically as she closed her bedroom door behind her. She got no response, but could still feel the familiar tingling sensation she got whenever Hiei was in her mind. Not even getting undressed, she plopped onto her bed and turned out the lights, immediately falling asleep.

And just like every night since Kiya had been here, Hiei stayed in the tree by her window, protectively keeping watch over her until he knew she was not in any danger.

"_Good night…"_

--------------------------KIYA'S DREAM---------------------------

_**As soon as full-on sleep met Kiya, she found herself in the middle of a very familiar living room. She looked behind her to see a couch, with two figures sitting on it.**_

**_One woman with radiant blue hair and even bluer eyes sat next to a taller man with darker blue hair pulled back into a ponytail, his silver eyes warm and welcoming._**

"_**Oh my god…" was all Kiya could get out before rushing to the couch and jumping into her parent's laps, hugging them both. She heard her mother laugh and she sat back to look at them.**_

"_**Hello, darling." Her mother let out, her bright smile making Kiya smile as well.**_

_**Kiya looked to her father. "Hey daddy." That's what she always called him when he was alive. Her father smiled at this and he gave her head a small rub. "Hey kiddo."**_

_**Kiya now had to ask the question. "What are you guys doing here?"**_

**_Kiya's mother took a deep breath as did her father. "Kiya. We can only be here for a few minutes, but we had to come to warn you." Her mother inhaled, then began talking again, her hand covering Kiya's hand and giving it a loving squeeze. "They're going to be coming for you, Kiya. Your future's already been planned out for you. Your father and I can't tell you what to do, but we can give you our love."_**

"_**What are you talking about? You aren't making any sense."**_

_**Her father took over now. "What your mother's trying to say is that you have a very hard decision ahead of you. No one will be able to make that decision for you, only you can. We will always be here for you, Kiya. No matter what. But we have to go now." Kiya got off their laps and they stood.**_

_**Kiya looked longingly into their eyes. "Please don't leave me again…"**_

_**Her eyes widened when she saw that her beloved parents were beginning to become transparent.**_

"_**We love you Kiya. Rob says he loves you too." Kiya smiled at that, then everything went blank.**_

_**--She thought the dream was over, but was soon proven otherwise when another 'unwelcome' guest came into her mind.**_

"_**Jasaro." She growled at the figure in front of her. He was dressed in a red button up shirt and black pants. His red hair was not spiked, but instead left to fall in his face.**_

"_**Kiya," He smirked, "I see your darling parents came to give you a little 'heads up'. I think that's sweet, but it's not going to help you in any way."**_

_**Jasaro stepped towards Kiya and she backed away from him. "You'd better stay away from me and my friends."**_

"**_You can't make me." He said in a sing-song voice. Suddenly, Jasaro ran to Kiya and gripped her upper right arm. He lowered his head so his face was right in front of hers. "And might I suggest that you don't get too close to the Forbidden Child. It will only end in heart break for you belong to me."_**

"_**I belong to no one."**_

_**Jasaro, who was obviously infuriated with her forwardness, ripped his hand from her upper arm, but not before leaving three scratch marks on it. Kiya gasped in pain and then opened her eyes.**_

----------------------------------------------------------

Kiya bolted up in bed, her forehead covered with beads of sweat. She looked at her bedside clock to see that it read, **6:03 am.**

School started at 7:00, so she might as well get up now. She tossed the blankets away from her form and stumbled to the bathroom. When in the bathroom, she stripped off her clothes from yesterday and turned on the shower water, getting in immediately. She shampooed her hair, but froze when she saw the crimson liquid trailing down her right arm. She looked at the three scratch marks on her upper arm and her breath hitched.

"Good god," she muttered to herself.

----------------------LATER THAT DAY (after school- at the temple)-----------------------

Kiya was in her room, bandaging up the newly opened wound on her arm. She had bandaged it two times during the day, the damn things wouldn't heal. She pried the last piece of bloody cloth from her arm and washed her wound with a warm washcloth. She snarled at the bottle of alcohol next to her. That stuff burned! No way was she putting it on, even though she knew she should. She wrapped the bandage tightly around her wound before the blood began trailing down her arm again. The wound wasn't big enough to lose too much blood, and for that Kiya was thankful.

Kiya looked over at her clock. **8:30 pm. **It blinked.

She groaned. She wanted to go to the party, and at the same time she didn't. She hadn't seen Hiei all day and she wanted to ask him to go to the party with her. If anything, she could ditch the party and hang out with him. She walked over to her closet and pulled out a tight black hoodie with Breaking Benjamin on it and pulled it on. She also brought out some dark jeans and her combat boots. She walked to her bathroom and put on a little bit of eyeliner and walked out of the room. While walking down to the living room, she saw Kurama.

"Hey Kurama, have you seen Hiei?"

"No." His statement was unusually short and she could hear a tint of something in it. Was it…jealousy?

"Okay, well if you do, can you give him this?" Kiya handed him the invitation that Haku had left for her. "Ask him if he'd like to go." She knew Kurama was going, too, but Kiya was going to go ahead of Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara just so she could check out Haku and make sure he wasn't up to anything.

"Sure I'll give it to him."

"Thanks Kurama."

Kurama hoped that Hiei didn't already know about the party because he had no intention of giving the invitation to Hiei. There were going to be a lot of loud ningens there and he knew that Hiei might get a little carried away with his katana, especially if one of the ningen boys decided to start hitting on Kiya- which would probably happen. Kurama didn't feel like explaining to Koenma what happened and seeing Hiei get put in jail.

So, Kurama tucked the paper in his pocket as he watched Kiya walk away from him and out the door.

He felt Youko growl with jealousy inside of him and he said, "Youko, you must get over her. She has already been taken."

-------------------

As Kiya walked briskly down the street, she was cursing everyone out on the sidewalk besides her. If they weren't there, she would've been able to fly to the party, but now she had to walk 6 miles to school.

Damn people.

But as Kiya walked, she was oblivious to the presence flitting from roof-top to roof-top above her, keeping one eye on her always.

Hiei scowled to himself. His future mate wasn't going_ anywhere_ without him being with her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	19. Chapter 19

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Previously:

As Kiya walked briskly down the street, she was cursing everyone out on the sidewalk besides her. If they weren't there, she would've been able to fly to the party, but now she had to walk 6 miles to school.

Damn people.

But as Kiya walked, she was oblivious to the presence flitting from roof-top to roof-top above her, keeping one eye on her always.

Hiei scowled to himself. His future mate wasn't going_ anywhere_ without him being with her.

------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 19: Can You Say Party?**

Kiya could hear the loud music blaring from all the way down the street.

_I'm going to laugh when they get the cops called._ She grinned evilly to herself before walking across the grass field to the front entrance of the middle school. No passed out bodies, no toilet papered cars, alright, so far so good. As Kiya reached the front door, she could clearly hear the song playing inside and all the people singing along with it.

"I like big butts and I cannot lie.

You other brothers can't deny.

When a girl walks in with an iddy biddy waist and a round thing in your face you get….."

Kiya kept listening to the song as she walked through the crowd, not even having to push her way through the people because they were hurriedly stepping out of her way, their eyes wide. Kiya smirked to herself. Beating up some jerk in the hallway earned her the right to say that she now owned the school. Speaking of jerks, Kiya's gaze fell upon the far corner, where Brian's little group of football buddies were cowering, the little baka himself was no where to be found. That was good, because Kiya knew that if she saw Brian, she would want to kill him right then and there for blaming her for Rob's murder.

Kiya kept walking down the hallway, listening to the music and looking around. Haku had gone all out. There were streamers everywhere, the main lights were replaced with black lights and a smoke machine filled the hallway with fog. This surprised her. Either Haku was a very rich guy with some very nice connections, of he just stole everything. She was putting her money on the latter of the two.

Kiya stopped listening to the music when she felt someone poke her shoulder. She turned around to see Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara standing there, Kuwabara was in the back, lip-singing to the song. "Wow, you guys got here fast."

"Yup. Wouldn't want to keep everyone waiting because the party doesn't start until Yusuke Urameshi is there," Said Yusuke proudly as he walked past Kiya along with Kuwabara into the school. Kiya turned to Kurama.

"Did you ask Hiei if he wanted to come?"

"I could not find him, I'm sorry." It was the truth though; Kurama hadn't seen Hiei all evening.

"Ok, well thanks any---" Kiya was cut off.

"SUICHI!"

"Oh dear." Mumbled Kurama. Kiya turned to see a flock of girls running in Kurama's direction.

"Suichi?"

"My human name." He sighed. The girls reached him and Kurama forced a fake smile. Kiya shook her head.

_He doesn't even go to this school and he has fan girls here._ Kiya turned and pushed her way through the love-struck girls to the middle of the room. She looked up at the person dancing on a table against the wall.

Noi. The school party animal. Kiya had never really hung out with her, but Noi was one of those rare people at her school that Kiya did not want to murder. They talked once, but it was about Kuwabara. Well, it was more like laughing. They were both rolling on the floor because Kuwabara ran into a door.

Ah, good times. Good times.

Up on the table next to Noi's was one of Noi's best friends, Ame. (1) Known at the school for being one of the only girls who could pull off short hair. Her black and red stripped hair swayed slightly as Ame danced to the music.

Kiya turned her head to the direction of all the cheering that was to her right. A crowd of people were creating a half circle around the two girls dancing in the middle. One of the girls had long brown hair down to her shoulders and the other had black hair to her back. Kiya recognized them as Samantha and Luna, the famed sisters who- besides Kiya- hated nearly everyone in the school. Kiya had never talked to them –not surprisingly- but they had never bothered her enough for her to declare them 'whore's' (which was her favorite title for every girl in the school that she could not stand.) Come to think of it, Kiya was surprised that she even knew all of these people's names, considering she had never bothered to talk to them. She took one last look at all four of them, dancing like wild women- but not to the point of being sluttish. Luna stopped dancing when she saw someone and waved to them. "What's up, Yusuke?"

Kiya smiled slightly and shook her head. She turned to look behind her where Luna was waving to, to see Yusuke and Kuwabara, Yusuke nodding as a small 'hey'. Yusuke and Kuwabara both had a beer can in their hands.

"Uh, I'm not sure if drinking's such a good idea."

"Oh, bull. We're still sober." Argued Yusuke. Kiya looked to Kuwabara who was looking around him as if waiting for something. Kiya recognized the overly confident look on his face.

"Oh give it a rest, Kuwabara. No one in their right mind would dance with you."

"You wanna bet?"

"Sure." Kiya had no money, but who cared? Not like she would lose. Who would dance with _him._

"I'll bet you $50 dollars that no one will ask you to dance tonight." Kuwabara said.

"Alright, and I bet that no one will ask you to dance tonight. If I win, I get that $50 dollars."

"Deal." Kuwabara stuck out his hand for Kiya to shake, but Kiya instead smacked him in the head. "Deal."

"Ahem," came a familiar voice from beside Kiya. She looked to her right to see Haku standing there. He was wearing black pants with a crimson colored shirt on and he had a friendly smile on.

"I must say that I'm impressed, Haku. The principal never found out about your little party and the cops have yet to show up." Kiya crossed her arms.

"Yes, well I have my ways of keeping things a secret." He held his hand out to her in a mocking-gentleman sort of way. "Would you care to dance?"

Kiya shot a side smirk at Kuwabara and made a money sign by rubbing her fingertips together. She turned back to Haku. Kiya didn't know what it was about Haku, but she just didn't like him- at all. But, money is money and she needed that $50 dollars. "Fine." She was going to dance with him, but she wasn't going to like it and she was going to make sure that Haku knew that.

Haku smirked and took Kiya's hand in his, leading her through the school to the large gymnasium where a new song was blaring and people were dancing everywhere. There was even a strobe light.

_I've got to admit, the guy sure knows how to throw a party._ She thought to herself as Haku stopped walking and turned to her. He almost hesitantly put his hands on her waist and she put her hands on his shoulders.

_The sooner this is over with, the sooner I can get my money. You'd better watch where those hands of yours go, pretty-boy._

The thought reassured Kiya and she calmed down. Haku's and her body began to sway to the beat of 'All the things she said,' by T.A.T.U. (A/N I don't own). A clenching feeling rose in the pit of Kiya's stomach and she couldn't help but feel like she was…….cheating on Hiei.

_It's only for the money…_

She couldn't help but notice how Haku was staring right into her eyes. His silver eyes meeting hers. They had been dancing for about 7 minutes when Haku finally broke the silence.

"You have beautiful eyes." Haku said softly. Kiya's eyes widened slightly.

"Uh….?" She wasn't sure what else to say, Haku wasn't acting like himself. What happened to the huge-ego, overly annoying, stuck-up jackass Kiya knew?

She didn't know where it was, she just knew that it sure as hell wasn't here.

Haku chuckled slightly at Kiya's confusion and Kiya was about to tell him off for laughing at her when she was suddenly aware of the new song playing, and the two figures standing on the bleachers, beer bottles in hand singing the song very loudly and very…poorly.

"HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!..." Kiya stopped moving and her jaw dropped. There, dancing on the bleachers, were a very wasted Yusuke and Kuwabara in only their pants and a white t-shirt (With the bottom of the t-shirt pulled in through the collar of the shirt, making it look like a bra.) They both had one arm around each other's shoulder's and their other arm's were holding an empty beer bottle to their mouth, using it as a microphone. "FIRE AWAAAAY!" Their voices reached unusual heights when they sang the last line and Kiya cringed. Who the hell could get _that_ drunk _that_ quickly?

"Oh. My. God." She muttered…..before starting to laugh her head off.

Oh boy, she was so going to use this against them when they were sober. Can someone say blackmail?

"You're cute when you laugh…" Stated Haku coyly while staring at Kiya's lips. That shut Kiya up quickly.

"Huh…..?" Kiya asked and widened her eyes as she saw Haku begin to lean into her, his eyes slightly shut. "Uh, Haku……you'd better get away from me…." She tried pushing up against his chest, but he only held her tighter. Kiya was at this point seriously contemplating blasting him with her trusty water orb right about now, but she figured Koenma would have her ass on a silver platter if she did that in front of all these ningens. Haku leaned in closer to her and one second Kiya could feel his lips brush hers……….

……….the next second, Haku was being thrown across the large gymnasium and everyone in the room, including Kiya and the two morons on the bleachers stopped what they were doing to look at Haku- who was now on the ground against the wall, and the person who threw Haku- who was glaring at every single person in the gym, including Kiya.

"….Hiei.." Kiya managed to get out. The furious fire apparition was glowing slightly purple, his aura flaring. He walked briskly over to Kiya, grabbed her arm roughly, and walked with her in tow out of the gym and eventually out of the school, on the way passing Kurama and all of his fan girls.

Kurama gave Kiya a worried look and Kiya just looked back, her face emotionless. On the inside, Kiya was scared out of her flipping mind- so scared that her face couldn't even show it. She felt like a little girl who got caught shop-lifting and now her father was dragging her out of the store to their car where he would spank her until she was sorry.

Hiei walked with Kiya across the street and into the forest, the moonlight blocked out by the tall treetops. As soon as they were out of hearing or seeing distance, Hiei roughly let go of Kiya's arm and began to pace, his aura still flaring. Kiya swallowed. What was she supposed to say? 'I'm sorry about almost kissing Haku, you must be really mad…' yeah, that'd work. (Sarcastic)

"…Hiei-"

"Shut up." He hissed.

Kiya's mouth opened slightly. Hiei had never snapped at her before. Hiei suddenly stopped pacing and walked to Kiya, quickly pushing her up against a tree and glaring at her. Wait…no. 'Glare' is an understatement.

Hiei suddenly scrunched up his nose. "You reek of him."

"Look Hiei, he forced himself on m-"

"I said SHUT UP!" He barked and Kiya flinched. Hiei's claws began to dig themselves into Kiya's shoulders, but she didn't dare make any noise.

Hiei began to breathe deeply, and Kiya got a little nervous. If she was afraid of anyone right now, it would be Hiei. She clenched her eyes shut tightly and bit her lip as she felt the warm blood falling down her shoulders from the wounds Hiei was inflicting.

It all happened so quickly, Kiya almost didn't see it. One moment, Hiei was pushing her up against the tree, the next he was ripping his nails out of Kiya's shoulders and they were running again, his hand gripping her elbow.

Kiya didn't even feel her wounds. She was too busy staring at the back of Hiei's head as everything around them flitted past, her legs not even touching the ground. She had come to find that floating when Hiei was running with her was way better than trying to keep up with him and having her legs flailing all over the place. She didn't say anything, though she doubted that Hiei would even hear her if she did.

In a matter of seconds, Kiya and Hiei were right outside of Genkai's temple. Hiei turned to her, his glare un-subsiding and his grip not leaving her elbow.

Kiya returned his glare. His intimidation had gone far enough. Sure, she could understand why he was pissed, but he was mad at the wrong person! Kiya didn't even like Haku! This was all his damn fault!

Hiei's grip on Kiya's poor elbow began getting stronger and Kiya said through clenched teeth, "Hiei………let me go….." She didn't dare let him know that he was hurting her. She wasn't in the greatest of situations, but she still had to keep her pride in-tact.

She was just a little egocentric.

Hiei's now stoic gaze followed Kiya's to her elbow and his grip suddenly loosened when his eyes slightly widened. Kiya was able to pull away from him and she rubbed her sore elbow while looking back at Hiei, whose eyes were glued to Kiya's arm in……..shock?

"Look Hiei, I'm sorry about what happ-" Hiei snapped out of his stare and closed his eyes.

"Hn. I don't need your pathetic apology."

"Well then what do you need? Saying sorry is the only way I know how to let you know that I regret what happened-"

"Save it, onna." Hiei re-opened his eyes.

Kiya's temper finally flared.

"Don't tell me to save it! What happened to you Hiei? It was just a fucking dance!" Kiya was at this point practically yelling.

"Hn." Hiei's arms were crossed over his chest.

"I only danced with Haku because of a bet with Kuwabara."

"So the baka is the one behind this…" Hiei's eyes flared.

"No! Kuwabara had nothing to do with it."

"In Makai, infidelity is punishable by abandonment." He hissed, his voice dangerously low.

Kiya's eyes widened. "WHAT? Okay, first of all, we are not in Makai. Second of all, you need to be with someone before you can cheat on them…" Hiei's eyes locked with Kiya's with that last sentence and Kiya could hear herself gasp with the sudden change in the Jaganshi's demeanor. He no longer looked ready to kill; instead he now looked stoic-again. He stepped over to Kiya and stood right in front of her. He had to look down a little bit so he could stare into her eyes.

"You are mine. I have not marked you yet, but I have claimed you-" his words were cut short when his crimson eyes trailed down Kiya face, down her neck, to the holes in the shoulder of Kiya's hoodie. Swiftly and gently, Hiei pulled down the collar of her hoodie. His eyes widened ever so subtlety when he saw the wounds he inflicted on her shoulder. The blood still had not dried. Hiei stepped away from Kiya and looked from her shoulder to her eyes.

"Hiei, you really need to learn to calm down. I understand that you had a rough childhood, but-"

"My childhood is none of your business."

"Will you shut up and let me finish?" Hiei narrowed his eyes at the young elemental before turning his attention to the side of him. He turned his body, staring out at nothing, a scowl plastered on his features. She continued, "There's no need for you to be so damn somber! Yeah, your life has pretty much sucked so far, but at least the cruel tactics of reality actually left you with some family!" Hiei immediately looked back to Kiya, about to say something, but she continued to talk. "That's right, Hiei. I know about Yukina. I can tell she's your sister. By the way you always keep one brotherly eye on her, how you tense up whenever Kuwabara is near her….your eyes are even the same color…." Kiya left her sentence hanging- her and Hiei staring at each other. Hiei was looking at her like she was supposed to say something else, so she did.

"I won't tell Yukina, I'll leave that to you. But be thankful that you still have her! I have no family left! None! My childhood sucked, too! I had to grow up in a damn mall- sneaking into the fast food restaurants at night to feed myself! But you don't see me running around, being all quiet and having that damn clichéd I- hate- the- world attitude .I bucked up. I accepted the fact that my life sucks and I moved on! I pushed my pain to the side so I wouldn't make anyone else as miserable as I was……as I am." Kiya didn't regret a single thing she had said. It was time that Hiei finally put his past where it was supposed to be: behind him. Kiya's pain that had been 'pushed to the side' had suddenly returned to her thoughts, memories upon horrible memories flooding her mind- but she didn't care. All she cared about was the conversation her and her almost-koi were sharing.

More like argument gone bad.

Hiei wouldn't even grace her with his gaze; instead he just stayed where he was, staring out into the forest, the darkness of the trees created by the lack of moonlight. Sure, Kiya had had a rough childhood, but she had not gone through as much as he had. He never even had a childhood. It had been taken from him by the heartless hands of exile.

"Hn. You know nothing of true pain."

"Yes I do. It's what I'm feeling right now with you not even looking at me. Talking to me as if I were a child that didn't know anything…………..Hiei, look at me."

Hiei reluctantly looked over at Kiya from the corner of his eye and immediately saw the glinting among the silver. Her eyes were slightly glazed and Hiei could tell that she was fighting a battle against the tears that threatened to fall……and she was about to lose. "I do not deserve your tears…" he muttered almost silently to himself as a clenching in the pit of his stomach tore him away from his stubborn anger. As quiet as he had said it, Kiya had heard it.

"Yes you do……….Hiei, I love you." Kiya had let the words fall out of her mouth before she even had the chance to think them over. But now it was too late to regret them……..if she did regret them. She was actually very relieved to have that off of her chest.

Hiei turned to her, his arms falling from the crossed position in front of him to down at his sides, hanging limply. Kiya repeated herself in a quivering whisper. "I love you, Hiei."

"No you don't…" He sounded as if he were begging her to change her mind.

Kiya just nodded, knowing that she was at a serious loss for words. _Yes I do Hiei. _She preached in her mind, hoping that by thinking it, she could send the belief onto the Jaganshi.

"Hiei just barely shook his head. "I am the forbidden child, therefore I am incapable of loving and being loved."

"Well obviously that stupid title of yours is wrong."

Hiei just looked at Kiya, searching her eyes for the faintest appearance of a lie.

There was none.

She was telling the truth. She loved him. After all these years of being loathed and un-welcomed- which didn't bother him in the least- it was a very different feeling to be loved. But she couldn't possibly………..I mean, after all that Hiei had done and said to her over the course of their acquaintance, she still had very strong feelings for him, and that confused the fire youkai. Confusion is not something that Hiei was very fond of.

Did he love her back? Hiei tried to tell himself no, tried to get himself to believe that he was too cold-hearted for any worthless ningen emotions to overcome him. But that part of him would not listen.

Hiei watched with a hawk-like gaze as a single tear was released from beneath Kiya's eye lids and as it trailed down her cheek, leaving a sparkling line down her pale skin. That was a tear of rejection. Hiei had not said the three words back to Kiya, the three words she needed to hear, and that hurt.

That tear was all Hiei needed to see to prove his fears. He was causing Kiya pain. The one he denied his feelings for was crying because of him. Hiei took one last look at the tear that was now sinking into the ground at Kiya's feet……..

……………and disappeared.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	20. Chapter 20

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-------------------------------------------------------

Previously:

That tear was all Hiei needed to see to prove his fears. He was causing Kiya pain. The one he denied his feelings for was crying because of him. Hiei took one last look at the tear that was now sinking into the ground at Kiya's feet……..

……………and disappeared.

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**Chapter 20: Eaves Dropper; The Truth Revealed:**

That night's transformation lasted a whole painful 3 and a half hours. The whole time, Kiya was in her room, her eyes shut tightly, floating above her bed. Meditating was something that Genkai had said would take her mind off of anything.

And Kiya had a lot to take off of her mind right now.

To her surprise, it was actually helping. She relaxed every muscle in her body and focused on her breathing.

Inhale deeply through the nose. Hold as long as you can. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat.

---------------SOMEWHERE ELSE------------------------

Three figures were in a room, sitting at a large round table. Two were males, one was female.

One of the males looked to be about 19 gazed into the transparent sphere that was on top of his silver staff. His eyes were unfocused and completely white, until he blinked and his eyes re-focused, returning to their normal grey. He turned his gaze to the table's other two occupants.

"It seems that the Jaganshi has left her."

"Perfect! Now there wont be anyone to interfere when we go to get the girl." Hissed the woman at the table, rubbing her smooth hands together.

"That's the problem. Now that her transformations have already begun, we can no longer bring her here against her will.." he left the sentence hanging.

The other two demanded that he should continue with their waiting glances, so he did. "Now that her transformations are occurring, her elemental side is more in tune with the rest of her. Kiya does not want to come to us, but her elemental side does…..sort of…..it's being drawn to us, whether it would like to be or not. After the 8th through 10th night of her transformations, she will no longer be able to resist the urge to come to us. She will come. Until then we will have to wait. If we do not allow her to come to us naturally: on her own, then her elemental side will be less likely to cooperate with us when we perform the ritual of domination."

There was silence in the room until the youngest person in the room, a young man with fiery red hair groaned loudly. "I guess we wait, then."

----------------------BACK TO KIYA------------------------

Kiya woke up to find that she was laying on the floor, curled into a small, tight ball. She blinked and stood shakily to her feet, stretching her arms up and out and yawning. She looked at her clock to see the flashing red numbers: **_8:37 am._**

Yes! It was Saturday……….no school…….no transformations until tonight…….

…….no Hiei.

The memories of everything that happened last night flooded into Kiya's mind like a speeding car. Her meditation session last night had only temporarily removed her painful memories. She had announced her love for Hiei and probably scared him off. The thing that hurt worse, though, was that he had not said it back.

Kiya kicked herself mentally. What was done could not be taken back- half of her was yelling at herself, calling her an idiot for even going to that damn party, but the other half of her was relieved that that was now off of her chest. She could relax now, knowing that Hiei knew the truth.

Kiys shuffled her tired feet over to her bathroom, lazily discarding her prices of clothing on the way. By the time she reached her shower, she was completely nude and she turned on the water, quickly stepping inside her shower, not really caring how hot or cold the water was. It was freezing! But she didn't care, cold or not, the water was still intoxicating. She let out an almost inaudible moan as the water cascaded over her body, slowly turning warmer. Something deep within her reacted very naturally and happily to the water, the smooth rhythm lulling her, hypnotizing her to the point that her eye lids had closed halfway.

She washed her hair quickly, loving the scent of her floral shampoo and conditioner. With the water went the suds and Kiya's thoughts; all running down the drain between her feet. All her thoughts left her as the liquefied ecstasy rolled over her skin….

…..all but one. The one remaining thought just happened to be a certain fire youkai, with raging crimson eyes that could make Kiya's heart stop.

Trying to get him and what she said to him out of her mind, she finished showering, vigorously rubbing the suds out of her hair, hoping that with them, the thought of her Hiei would leave.

_Her _Hiei. That's what she thought of him. As hers.

Good Kami, this was ridiculous! She had never had a crush on _anyone_ before in her life! And now she was declaring her love for a cold and distant soul, who happened to be a youkai, no less.

But, it was the truth, there was no denying that. She did love him- or at least, that's what she figured was that feeling she got in the pit of her stomach whenever she was near him, or how her skin rose into goose bumps every time he looked at her…..

……or maybe she was just allergic to him.

Whatever it was, it had caused her to say a few _personal_ things and now Hiei was gone. Nothing mattered anymore, other than keeping her own sanity. Kiya had a feeling that Hiei wasn't going to be returning. At least for a while. She hoped he would come back.

Come back to her.

Her eyes widened slightly as she turned off the shower water and she realized something.

She had cried in front of him!

_Kami……kill me now._

Groggily, Kiya slumped to her closet and pulled out what her hand felt first, which happened to be her baggy blue camouflage pants and a black spaghetti tank top. She pulled a black jacket over her bare shoulders and gasped. She knew what she could do to get her mind off of her favorite little pyro.

She could go visit Rob's old restaurant. Since he had never gotten married of had children, the restaurant would be put up for lease. Kiya would have gotten it if Rob had written a will, he had told her that countless times. But because he was…..murdered before he could write a will, the space was up for grabs.

Speaking of murders, the police had yet to figure out who exactly had murdered Rob. They claim that there weren't any leads and that there was no evidence left behind by the killer, so Rob's case would most likely turn out to be a cold one.

Kiya hated the police.

Anyways, the young elemental pulled on her clothes and walked out of her room. Not hearing anything downstairs, she continued casually down the hallway. Frankly, Kiya didn't want to be seen by anyone because then questions would pop up about last night and what happened between her and Hiei and that was nobodies business but hers and Hiei's. Plus, she didn't even know if anyone noticed that he was gone.

As she was walking past the living room, a calm voice reached her ears. "Where are you going, Kiya-san?" Kiya cringed as the sweet voice finished it's question, and she froze.

"Nowhere, Yukina." Her response sounded harsher than she would've liked it to, it was just that she was in a hurry to get out of the temple. To make up for her rude tone of voice, she shot the koorime a small smile. Yukina happily smiled back and Kiya tried believing that Yukina had any blood ties to Hiei. They were complete opposites! Before her thoughts could further return to Hiei, Kiya turned to the door and walked out of it, silently wondering where the rest of the group was. She had a feeling that they were with Koenma, no doubt he knew of Hiei's sudden disappearance.

Kiya focused on floating. Closing her eyes, she focused on her blue energy orb in the back of her mind and imagined it rising, her body soon following its example. Everything after that was as natural as breathing. Kiya flew (close to the clouds) over the large forest that surrounded Genkai's temple. Swiftly, Kiya dove into the cover of the trees, her feet landing gracefully on the ground and Kiya adjusted her wind-blown hair. She casually walked out of the forest and looked up at the two story building on the other side of the street. The words that she saw plastered on the front of the building made her stop in her tracks.

_**Penthouse.**_

They had turned Rob's restaurant into a STRIP CLUB! Another painful memory slipped into Kiya's mind of her threatening Rob about turning the restaurant into a Strip Club. Oh, the irony made Kiya want to weep. The only thing she had left of Rob in her life had been into a horny man's paradise!

A figure moving briskly in the corner of her eye removed Kiya's attention from the bar. She turned her icy silver eyes to look at the person, and her brows lifted, her eye lids opening widely. That _guy_ walking briskly across the street, in his baggy jeans and black hoodie, his blonde hair spiked upwards….was Brian.

What was that bastard doing _here?_ If he was up to something, Kiya wouldn't have known (sarcastic). He looked totally suspicious; glancing from side to side, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one could see him. When he had glanced her way, Kiya had dove behind a wide tree, then peeked around the trunk to see him disappear into the alley by the 'Bar'. Kiya quickly flew to the roof of the bar, to hell with no one seeing her, this was important. Kiya crouched low, walking on the balls of her feet so that she wouldn't be seen. The wall of the roof was about three feet high, so she didn't have to do too much ducking.

Kiya peeked over the wall to see Brian standing in front of another figure, who was too incased in the shadow of the building. When Brian glanced up in Kiya's directions, she quickly squatted next to the wall, out of sight, but still close enough that she could hear their hushed conversation.

--------------------WITH THE YYH GANG--------------------

Koenma had called Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara into his office at 7:00 that morning. Of course, Yusuke wasn't too happy about that, but no one cared.

"Hiei has left." Koenma started, not giving Yusuke a chance to start whining.

They all blinked. "What?" came Yusuke's and Kuwabara's tired replies.

Koenma sighed, irritated that he had to repeat himself. "I said, Hiei left. He disappeared last night and has not been seen anywhere."

"Wait, if Hiei isn't with Kiya, then…..is she alone?" Came Kurama's worried reply. Youko was more worried than Kurama was, he still had a thing for Kiya. But, he agreed to be quiet about it. Kiya was 'Hiei's property' and he respected that, no matter how much he didn't want to.

"Yes, but she is safe for the time being. The elementals have backed off, for some unknown reason. My ogres are researching it right now. Their energy that was coming from the Makai has suddenly vanished, which means that they are not attempting to come get her any time soon."

The three teenage boys sighed in relief.

"…But while she's gone, I have something I need to talk to you all about…"

The blank stares being directed at him made him continue.

"…We know who killed Rob.."

-----------------BACK TO KIYA--------------

Kiya listened intently to the two hushed male voices, both familiar, coming from the alley below.

"….this isn't going to work…." It was Brian's voice. He had said a name, but she couldn't hear it.

"Yes it is. Just don't let your guard down and keep things from slipping, and everything will work out."

"Yeah, well, you're not the one who had to murder someone."

Kiya gasped in her mind. What did he mean, _'murder someone'_?

"You let anyone know what you did, then our whole plan will be ruined. You had better keep your damn mouth shut."

"Fine, but if anyone finds out….."

"They wont."

_Find out what, damnit!_

"Yeah, well the Jaganshi is a telepath. He'll find out I killed Rob, then what do I do?"

_Oh, they must be talking about Hiei-………… WHAT?_

"SHH! Damnit, don't say that out loud!"

Kiya tuned out the rest of their conversation, leaning against the wall, her hand to her forehead. So, now she knew. Brian killed her uncle.

He murdered her only family left…

……mutilated her Rob.

He was so fucking dead.

Kiya didn't even care if those two saw her now. Brian and whoever was down there with him were in for it. Those bastards had taken her Uncle Rob away from her and her mind was set on one thing. Revenge.

Kiya's jaw clenched, and she quickly stood up and leapt over the wall of the building, using her ability to fly to slow her fall. Whether it was luck or not, Kiya landed right on top of Brian, earning an ungrateful _'umf'_ She looked quickly to the end of the alley to see who he was talking to, but whoever it was; was gone.

Kiya got up quickly, grabbed Brian by the collar of his open jacket and threw him roughly against the wall. All those training sessions with Hiei had made her pretty strong for her size. She only came up to Brian's neck, but the look she was giving him was enough to make anyone squirm.

"So…you did it. You BASTARD! You killed Rob!" She yelled at him through clenched teeth.

Brian looked like he was about to crap his pants, but soon try to regain his composure a put on a brave smirk. "And what if I did?"

Kiya let out a furious battle roar and shoved Brian up against the wall harder. "WHY?"

That was when Brian took over. He grabbed Kiya by the neck and switched positions so that she was against the wall, his large hands clutching her neck. "Wouldn't you like to know.." he smirked down at her.

Kiya lost it.

She suddenly brought up her knee, sending it swiftly into his groin. If she weren't so corrupted by her anger right now, Kiya would've snickered at his pain. He backed away from her, doubling over, groaning in pain.

Kiya's eyes suddenly returned to their deathly blue and silver like during her transformation, her aura glowing dangerously around her body.

----------------------WITH KOENMA------------------

Koenma suddenly stopped talking, his attention, along with Yusuke's, Kurama's and Kuwabara's all on the ogre entering the large office in a hurry.

"Lord Koenma- There's been a dramatic increase in elemental energy in Ningenkai!"

"Kiya…." All four of them muttered.

---------------------BACK TO KIYA--------------------

Kiya, in all her fury, tackled Brian to the ground, her small hands squeezing his neck shut. Brian's hands flew to Kiya's, but nothing could remove them now. Kiya took only one hand from his neck and held it above his face, letting it turn blue.

"You will meet the same fate you made my uncle meet, you bastard." She growled dangerously, then lowered her hand so that it was centimeters form his face. Brian's started trembling.

"Now, I'm giving you one chance and one only…….why did you kill my uncle?"

"……s-someone p-p-paid m-me…….Please don't k-kill me.."

If sane, Kiya probably would've let him go with no more than having every bone in his body broken, but no. Brian had done a ghastly crime and Kiya wasn't leaving this alley until he, along with her uncle, was gone.

"When my uncle asked you to spare him, did you do it!" She hissed. "Who paid you!"

Brian didn't answer, he was instead staring in fear at Kiya's glowing hand. She guessed that he knew that with one touch of her hand, he would turn into a pathetic pool of water. That was good, now Kiya didn't have to explain his choices. Either tell her who paid him to kill her uncle, or meet the unmerciful fate of her hand.

"WHO PAID YOU!" she screeched.

"S-some guy n-n-named-" Brian's eyes suddenly widened and Kiya's own eyes also widened when she figured out what happened. Her hand had unconsciously found it's way onto Brian's chest, and now his entire body was glowing that all too familiar blue.

"No!" Kiya cried! If only she knew how to reverse this effect, then she would be able to find out who paid him to kill her uncle. She yanked her hand from his chest and stumbled back.

Brian's face, along with the rest of his body, suddenly began to become tracparent, and Kiya clenched her eyes shut in disbelief.

_No…..no…..not again…._

When Kiya's eyes re-opened, she was kneeling in a shallow puddle of water.

Kiya scrambled back away from the water. She had never meant to kill anyone! She just wanted answers. In her rage, she had killed Brian.

Now she was no better than him.

She was a murderer. (1)

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(1): Okay, I know you might be saying, "Didn't Kiya kill a couple of demons before?" My answer: yes she did, but she had never considered herself a murderer until now. Killing demons doesn't really count as 'murder' in Kiya's mind.

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	21. Chapter 21

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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Previously:

When Kiya's eyes re-opened, she was kneeling in a shallow puddle of water.

Kiya scrambled back away from the water. She had never meant to kill anyone! She just wanted answers. In her rage, she had killed Brian.

Now she was no better than him.

She was a murderer

---------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 21: Oh So Lonely:**

By the time Kurma, Yusuke and Kuwabara found Kiya, she was sitting in the corner of the alley, her small legs to her chest, her bracelet adorned arms clutching her quivering torso. Her wide silver eyes were dull and glued to the puddle of water in front of her.

"Kiya!" Yusuke rushed to her and kneeled down to her eye level, touching her arm slightly. This got her attention and her eyes quickly darted to Yusuke's, startling him.

Meanwhile, Kurama and Kuwabara stood back, observing the puddle of water and pile of clothes mere inches in front of Kiya. Kuwabara's eyes widened and he let out a loud, "What the hell happened?"

"It seems Kiya lost control of herself…" Kurama's green eyes met Kiya's and he felt immediate sympathy. Koenma had already told them that Brian had killed Rob, and no doubt it was he who was now the puddle of water and clothes in front of them. Kuwabara must have just figured this out because his eyes widened dramatically and he stepped slowly away from Kiya, his eyes darting from the young elemental to the water now running through the cracks in the ground underneath them.

Kiya nodded faintly in agreement to Kurama's statement, chewing on her bottom lip. Blinking, Kiya struggled to her feet, using the wall behind her for support. Yusuke made a move to help her, but Kiya held up her hand in a kind of 'I'm ok,' way. Yusuke backed off and Kiya walked slowly away from the wall. She took one more nervous glance at the now water-free but still wet ground before walking to the end of the alley, then stopped.

Without looking back, Kiya let out an emotionless, "Coming?"

The three shared a confused glance before following the blue- haired girl out of the alley, across the street and into the forest.

Kiya's eyes were no longer dull, instead they were now un-blinking. The reality of everything that had happened in the last 24 hours was slowly sinking in. She had learned, lost and done so much in that small amount of time that it not only shocked her, but also rendered her slightly insane. First, Hiei left her, then she found out that Brian was the cold-hearted bastard who killed her uncle, then she killed him. I mean, what Brian did was ….horrible beyond words…..and he probably did deserve to die, but the thought that she had killed him made her want to vomit. Kiya had never before been a weak person, inside and out- years of being alone had made sure of that, but now, she felt totally and utterly helpless, and she didn't like it. Not one bit. She hated feeling like she needed something she couldn't get.

And right now, she really needed a hug. The thought almost surprised Kiya, she had never been the hugging type, but now she felt herself craving the embrace of the strong arms of her favorite fire youkai.

The fire youkai who had left her.

The group walked in silence in the direction of Genkai's temple, all their attention on the blue haired girl who walked ahead of them.

All was peaceful until Kuwabara and Kurama both stopped dead in their tracks.

"Something's coming.." said Kuwabara. Kiya stopped walking to look back at the two of them.

"You sensed that too?" asked Kurama.

Kuwabara nearly nodded before yelping when a spear came flying toward him. If he hadn't flinched, moving his head slightly to the side, that spear would've hit him straight in the forehead instead of plunging into the tree trunk behind him. Kiya quickly spun to see where the spear had come from.

Four large youkai walked calmly out from behind the trees. The thing Kiya immediately noticed about them was that they all looked the same. The same paper white skin, the same black eyes, and the same black robes that flew to the ground around their massive forms. Kiya immediately stepped back and got into her fighting stance, ready to kick some ass. This was the last thing she needed right now.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama came to Kiya's side and one of the four youkai in front of them spoke.

"My, my. Look what we have here, boys. Some of Koenma's lackeys and a little girl- no doubt they're going to try and get rid of us….."

"It seems that little girl is more than what you thought, Monoku. I sense elemental blood running through that little body of her,." said a second youkai, with the same deep voice as the first one.

"How the hell did you get in Ningenkai?" demanded Yusuke.

"Our master generously provided us with a portal. I'm only telling you this because you don't have that much longer to live, so this information won't prove to be too useful in the long run."

"Who's your master?" Yusuke asked again.

The leader youkai, as Kiya guessed, began to laugh- a deep and raspy chuckle, and the others soon followed his example. As soon as he stopped, so did the rest.

"You think I'd tell you? HA! Even if you are about to die, I still am not going to grace you with the knowledge of who sent us here."

Kiya was losing her patience. She could care less who sent them here. All she knew is that she was going to be the one to send them back. But, because of….recent events, she wanted to be able to do that without killing anyone or anything.

"Okay, I'll give you one chance and one chance only to leave peacefully. Go back to where you came from and I won't be forced to kill any of you." She unconsciously cringed at the word, 'kill'. Her offer was unusually generous considering she was in one of the worst moods of her life.

…wait, strike that. This could easily be considered the worst mood of her life.

The four identical youkai just looked at Kiya humorously. Obviously, they weren't going to answer.

Kiya's guess was proved correct when all of them reached one arm over their shoulder to grip very large black swords. They brought them back in front of them and they all took the same fighting stance.

Kiya groaned. She immediately retrieved her sais' out of her back sheaths and took her own fighting stance. If she had to fight them, she was going to get it done quickly.

Kiya felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Kiya, why don't you just rest right now? We can take care of this." It was Kurama.

"No." Kiya could hear the sympathy and worry in his voice. She didn't need it- she was not a child. She could take care of herself. Before she had time to say more, the four youkai's leapt forward, swinging their swords. The leader went after Kiya and right when his sword came crashing above her head, she dropped to the ground, rolled to the side, then sent a very strong kick to the back of the youkai's knees. It wasn't enough to make him fall, but he did stumble a bit.

"Spirit gun!"

"Spirit sword!"

"Rose whip!" Kiya heard all of her friends' cries and smirked to herself. These youkai didn't have a chance. They seemed to be only B class.

The leader youkai soon regained his composure and raised his sword again. Before he could even move, Kiya had floated up behind him and had his neck in a death lock. She lowered her head to whisper dangerously in his ear while he clawed uselessly at her arm.

"I am not in the mood today to deal with your coyness. Now, either you tell me who the _hell_," she tightened her grip on his neck, "gave you that portal, or I'll kill you here and now." Kiya wasn't sure if she was lying. The last thing she wanted to do right now was kill another person, whether he was a youkai or not. All she wanted to do was go back to Genkai's temple and go visit the hot springs- but she also wanted answers, and she wasn't leaving here without them.

She was very stubborn.

The youkai kept quiet and continued struggling and Kiya finally noticed the fight going on between her friends and the other three youkai. Kurama's youkai was already on the ground in a bloody heap and now he was helping a limping Kuwabara defeat his opposing youkai. Yusuke was holding up very nicely, using his maneuvering to doge all of the attacks being thrown at him. Kiya's attentions were returned to the youkai in her arms when he started making noises that sounded like muffled talking. She loosened her grip ever so slightly on his throat so that he could talk but not get away.

The youkai inhaled deeply then said, "My…..master said to…..give you….a message……" The youkai dug weakly into his front pocket and raised the slightly tanned folded parchment in front of him. As soon as Kiya snatched the paper out of his hand, the youkai fell to the floor in an unconscious heap. Kiya- too interested in the paper in her hands to care about the youkai at her feet, carefully unfolded the piece of paper.

Her eyes began to widen as she read the message.

**What flies on an oar and has blue hair?**

**A friend of yours, maybe?**

**Why were those youkai so easy to finish off?**

**Could they have been a distraction?**

**Perhaps.**

**What will happen if you don't soon come to us?**

**One by one your friends will die until all you have are the three of us.**

**What is the significance of the number 24?**

**It's the number of hours you have until she's dead.**

**Who?**

**That returns us to our first question.**

**What flies on an oar and has blue hair?**

Kiya let the paper drop from her hands. Her three friends, who were now piling up and tying their unconscious foes, looked questionably at Kiya. Before she could even tell them what had happened, Yusuke's communicator mirror began beeping.

Yusuke opened it and couldn't even get a word in before the teenage Koenma on the other line began yelling. "YUSUKE, GET HERE IMMEDIATELY! BOTAN'S BEEN ATTACKED!-" A portal appeared and Kiya, summoning what will she had left, weakly walked through the portal, not even looking back to make sure the others were following.

The first thing she noticed when she stepped through the portal into Koenma's office, was the fact that she smelled no blood- which was what she was expecting. Her eyes immediately shot to Koenma, Genkai and Yukina. All of whom were standing by the couch in Koenma's office, looking down at the apparently unconscious Botan.

"Oh my god …Botan." Kiya whispered weakly before rushing to the couch and crouching by her side. A quick sweep over Botan told Kiya that she was in no way wounded on the outside- and that confused Kiya. She was about to ask what had happened, but Genkai told her first. "It's an internal injury. She consumed poison and it's attacking her lungs right now. I'd say she has less than a day to live." Genkai's usually calm voice cracked slightly and Kiya's jaw immediately fell open.

"What do you mean consumed? You mean she ate something poisonous?"

"Either that or she was injected with it." Cam Koenma's weak reply.

"Botan!" Came the worried gasps from behind Kiya as Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara soon rushed up beside. "Koenma what happened?" Yusuke bent down next to Kiya to lay a gentle hand on Botan's feverish cheek.

"I walked into my office and saw her lying on the ground, unconscious. I had Yukina and Genkai come here as well as you four so that –" his words broke off as Kiya began shake.

"Yukina….c-cant you heal h-her?" It pained everyone in the room to hear someone as strong willed as Kiya's voice crack.

"I'm afraid I can't, Kiya-chan. The poison is too far within her system for my healing powers to find."

"Well then freeze her and stop the poison from spreading any further or something! We can't let her die!" Kiya stood up abruptly, her small hands fisting at her sides.

"Kiya-" Kurama said softly, trying to calm the elemental down.

"DON'T KIYA ME! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE HER DIE!"

The entire room stayed silent. They had no arguing statement to prove that this wasn't Kiya's fault, and that silence hurt Kiya more than anything.

It really was her fault.

Kiya took one more look at the unconscious Botan on the couch, before demanding a portal back to the temple. Koenma summoned one quickly and Kiya walked through it, making sure no one could see her glazed eyes.

Once in the temple, Kiya immediately cried out a loud and ear shattering yell, then slumped to the floor, her shoulders heaving.

"Not much of a battle roar, if I do say so myself."

Kiya immediately looked up at the source of the voice, her eyed full of hatred.

Jasaro. But not only Jasaro, there were two other people with him. Kiya immediately recognized them as the other two elementals from her dreams and horrible visions. She got to her feet, her shoulders still shaking and glared at the three figures standing in the living room. The woman in the middle of the group, looking to be about 30 had dark green hair to her shoulders and deep brown eyes. She was dressed in a very elegant yet simple green gown covered by the red cloak that they all wore. The man to the right of the woman who- Kiya guessed was 19- had long silver hair to the middle of his back, pulled back into a pony tail except for two long strands in his face. His eyes were a deadly grey and his grey suit was covered by the red cloak.

The last one- the one Kiya hated the most was Jasaro. His red hair was again spiked except for two front pieces of hair that hung limply in his face. He was wearing black jeans with a red button up shirt on- the top buttons undone and of course, the red cloak.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Aw, what's the matter, can't we just come visit our favorite Water elemental?" Jasaro smirked evilly.

"What did you do to Botan?"

"My, my Kiya aren't you quick to judge." Came the woman's forceful voice. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Terra, I am the elemental of Earth."

"And I am Aerosako. Elemental of Air."

"You didn't answer my question..." Kiya's aura began to flare. She was not in the mood for jokes or stalling.

"Oh, right. As I said, you are too quick to judge my dear. We did not do anything to your dear Grim Reaper."

"But you had something to do with it. I know you did."

"We can not lie; we did have something to do with it." Came Aerokasu's sly answer.

"Tell me there's an antidote."

"If we said that there was an antidote, we'd be lying. And as I already told you, we can't lie."

Kiya suddenly felt weak, and she slumped against the wall behind her.

"Too bad the Jaganshi left you, huh sugar? I told you not to get attached." Jasaro stepped towards Kiya.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP! Just leave me alone……I didn't want this……any of it." Kiya shrieked, then her voice lowered to a weak whisper. Her tears threatened to fall, but she held them back. She would not give the other elementals the joy of seeing how much they've made her suffer.

"Kiya!" Kiya looked up to see Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama all standing in front of her, their eyes narrowed at the elementals.

"I can see that we are no longer welcome here. See you later, sugar!" Came Jasaro's voice as the three of them suddenly disappeared in a swirl of white energy.

"Bastards!" mumbled Yusuke before they all turned back to Kiya, their eyes full of worry.

"They did it……..there's no antidote……..Botan's going to d………die."

"We know, Koenma told us that right after you left. He's getting the top doctors in Rekai to look at her. There's still some hope that she'll be okay, though." Yusuke pulled Kiya to her feet and embraced her in a tight brotherly-hug. He left out the fact that the odds of Botan surviving were about 5 in 1,000.

Kiya just stayed limp in his arms. "Keiko just got out of the hospital…..and now Botan's going to die……..Why you guys? Why?"

"Why what, Kiya?" Yusuke hugged her tighter while the other two just stood back and watched. Kurama was fighting an inner battle to go to Kiya and hold her tight until everything was okay- and the fact that Youko was immensely worried about Kiya only made that desire stronger, but he was able to hold himself back- for Hiei's sake.

"Why are you guys still helping me, even though you could be hurt? Why is my life so miserable just because of what I am? Why cant I just…….die?" Finally, Kiya allowed only one of her tears to fall, and it slid down her pale skin, landing on Yusuke's shoulder.

"Don't say that Kiya. Kami, please don't say that. We've stayed with you because we are your friends and we'd never abandon you."

_Then why is Hiei not here?_ That single question over-rid all the others. Why was Hiei not with her? In her up-most time of need, Hiei had abandoned her. She didn't even know where he was.

----------------------LATER THAT NIGHT-------------------

Kiya was in her elemental state now, and she traced the lines on one of her arms with her fingers. She sat on her bed, her knees tucked beneath her and she wore a plain black night shirt. Her long blue and silver hair fell in a pool around her as she chanted an old song Rob had taught her when she was just a little girl. (1)

Sighing, Kiya got off of her bed and walked slowly to her bathroom, her night shirt swaying lightly against her thighs. Once she reached her bathroom, she slowly shut the door behind her and locked it. For a moment, the only thing Kiya did was stare at her reflection and if she was feeling like her normal self, she would've cringed at the way she looked. Her skin was paler than normal and no longer had its usual lively glow. Her hair was frazzled and tangled- thanks to an entire day of not giving a damn about her poor blue hair. Her eyes were bloodshot from tears that had welled up in them, but were never allowed to fall.

Kiya finally looked away from her reflection long enough to open up the medicine cabinet and pull out the one thing that had been on her mind all evening. The tool of her freedom. The object of her demise.

A small silver razor that shone slightly in the light of the bathroom.

Breathing deeply, Kiya sat on top of the toilet seat, bringing her legs up Indian-style beneath her- not once taking her eyes off of the object in her shaking hands.

Should she do it? Could she do it? Kiya raised her wrist and looked from it, to the razor, then back to her wrist again.

_It would make everything better, right? The elementals will not be able to dominate the three worlds. My friends will be safe…..sure, they'd miss me, but they would also get over it, and get on with their lives. Right?_

_Not Hiei._

_If Hiei cared so much, he would be here right now, wouldn't he?_

_He just needed some time to think._

_Yeah, well so do I, but you don't see me running off._

_Believe what you want to. I give up._

Kiya sighed again, and returned her focus to the razor. It was simple enough, just one straight razor, small- yes, but sharp enough to do the job. She slowly lowered to razor to her wrist, shuddering at the coldness she felt when the blade met her skin.

She inhaled deeply and then………….

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CLIFFHANGER!

Just kidding! I figured that since I probably won't get another chapter up for a while, I'll make this one extra long.

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…………then her eyes widened slightly at what she was just about to do and she quickly hurled the blade across the small bathroom, as far away from her as possible.

What was she thinking! Suicide would not be the answer to her problems! It would just make everyone think that she was weak! Suicide is the easy way out- the way for people to just leave everything on one cowardly note. No matter how bad things got, Kiya would not forever be known as the elemental that was too weak to allow herself to live. (2)

Trembling at the thought of what she was just about to do, Kiya hastily left her bathroom.

Suddenly, Kiya just realized how much she wanted to live- she had no clue why, but she did. She wanted to be able to see Hiei at least one more time before----before the elementals took her. Kiya knew it was going to happen, she knew that nothing she could do (besides killing herself) would change that.

The thought of Hiei kept her from killing herself.

_Go to the hot springs. It'll make you feel better._

_Okay._

Not really feeling like arguing with herself, Kiya grabbed her large black trench coat from her closet and wrapped it around her figure before walking to her window, opening it, and flying out of it. She closed the window behind her before flying off quickly through the darkness in the direction of the hot springs.

As she neared the familiar stream, Kiya could feel almost like a magnetic pull in the pit of her stomach, guiding her in the direction of the water.

_Huh, that's odd. _Kiya guessed that in her elemental form, she must be drawn to her element so much so, that she could feel it.

When she finally spotted the wonderful springs, she wasted no time in lowering herself to the ground, stripping her coat and her t-shirt, leaving her in her black undergarments. (undies and a bra). She hung her clothes on a branch then stepped into the soothingly warm water.

From the contact with her element- while in her elemental form, Kiya was in- to put it plainly- overwhelming paradise. Absolute heaven. Kiya watched in awe as ripples started to form in the water- but not the normal ripples that flowed outwards from the person to the edge of the water, these ripples were _starting_ at the edge of the water, and flowing to meet Kiya's ankles, as if the water wanted to be as close to her as possible. As if it welcomed her. Kiya walked deeper into the water until it was waist high, all the while staring at the ripples as they encircled her. When they reached her body, they didn't bounce back off, they just stopped, and Kiya thought it was the most amazing thing in the world.

Testing out the water's response to her while in this form, Kiya raised on silver and blue lined hand, palm down over the water and felt her eyes widen when she saw the water literally rise in a small mound, getting taller until it finally reached her hand. Gasping at the tingle the water sent through her hand, she yanked it from the mound and watched as it fell back into the water. The water had acted on its own, without her having to manipulate it!

Kiya stopped thinking about the water when her senses picked up a familiar presence around her. Obviously, in this form, her senses were more in tune.

She gasped when she remembered who that aura belonged to.

"Hiei?" She said, her voice it's normal volume, but tinted slightly with uncertainty. She looked around her, spinning slowly to look in and past the trees for any sign of the Jaganshi. "Hiei?" She said it a little louder this time. Why wasn't he answering her? She was sure it was Hiei.

--------------------OTHER POV-----------------------

And there she was, in her other form, walking slowly into the springs, her long blue hair falling to her hips.

He cursed and kicked himself for ever leaving her. When trying to probe her mind, he was met with a wave of raw emotions. Depression, loneliness, anger, frustration, but most of all, the sense of being abandoned.

He knew how she felt towards him now and he wanted nothing more that to return to her before she hated him, but he couldn't right now. Not when he was a mess of emotions. He hated this, feeling helpless and responsible for this girl's pain- which was new to him because he had never felt this level before. Sure, he had been concerned for other people before, but that was different. They were nothing more than family to him. This was Kiya.

Just the night before, she had declared her love for him, and he left her. For the love of Kami, he left her.

"Hiei?"

Her voice made his head immediately pop up. He saw Kiya spinning around slowly, her eyes straining to see -what he knew was himself- among the dense trees and foliage that made up the forest. He wanted so badly to go to her. To give in to his demonly desires and just go to her, his future mate, his claim. But, he held himself back. Being away for just the little time that he had, he had figured out why he felt the way he did around Kiya.

He felt the same way for her that she did for him. The feeling was mutual. He loved her.

But, what he needed more time for, was accepting that and allowing himself to give in to what he once thought of as 'useless ningen emotions'.

"Hiei!" She said it louder this time and he clenched his fists at his side. With one more look at Kiya, he disappeared once more, flitting away into the night.

------------BACK TO KIYA-------------

As soon as that familiar aura had awoken her senses, it left. Kiya felt her shoulders slump in defeat.

How could she have ever thought it was him? She was foolish- Hiei may never come back, then what would she do?

She would have no reason to stay. Sure, her friends were here, but by being around them, she only brought danger and pain. The only reason she was still at this temple was in the hopes of Hiei coming back. It was selfish, really. Staying here- keeping her friends in danger- only to wait for someone who had abandoned her.

Kiya waited until her transformation stage was over to get out of the water (which took about another 2 hours)- mainly because when she was in that state, her elemental side refused to leave the water. Glancing down at her now- back -to -normal arms, Kiya walked to the tree where she placed her clothes and grabbed her t-shirt- pulling it over her head. Her trench coat soon followed and she flew above the treetops back to the temple.

When she reached her window, she opened it, flew through it, then closed it behind her. Carelessly, she let her coat drop off of her shoulders to the floor as she stared out the window into the darkness.

She had made up her mind. If Hiei was not back within the week, Kiya was gone.

She would go to the elementals- so her friends would be safe.

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**(1): I would put the song on here, but it's in Italian and I don't want fan fiction thinking that it's misspelled English and take my story off the net- again.**

**(2): Okay, before everyone starts flaming me for not having enough sympathy for people who commit suicide, let me tell you all one thing. My friend committed suicide a while ago- so keep the flames to yourself**.

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	22. Chapter 22

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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Previously:

She had made up her mind. If Hiei was not back within the week, Kiya was gone.

She would go to the elementals- so her friends would be safe.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 22: Withdrawal Symptoms:**

Kiya sat in a chair by Botan's hospital bed in the Rekai medical center- located in Koenma's palace, thankful that all of the doctors in charge of her friend were now gone, and she could have a moment of peace.

Kiya was holding her friend's clammy hand, looking into her flushed face and listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor- hoping to kami that it would keep beeping, for Botan was on the verge of dying.

"I'm so sorry, Botan. It's…this is all my fault. This shouldn't have happened to you…..it shouldn't have happened to Keiko….it should've happened to me..Please wake up Botan. Please…." Kiya closed her eyes tightly so she wouldn't have to see Botan's weakening face any longer- she couldn't take it. It was several minutes before the silence of the hospital room was interrupted.

---------

"K-Kiya?" Kiya's eyes snapped open immediately at the sound of her friend's weak voice.

"Botan?" Kiya immediately felt her lips form a small relieved smile when she saw that Botan's pink eyes were now halfway opened and blinking slightly. "Botan, are you okay?"

"I-I'm not sure." Her usually bubbly voice was now weak and raspy.

"You can't die, right Botan? I mean, you're a guide to the spirit world….you cant die."

"I wish it were that simple…." Botan coughed lightly and Kiya grabbed Botan's hand with both of hers. "….I can die…and I probably will…"

"Don't talk like that. Koenma will bring you back…right?"

"There's no way to be sure……..this isn't your fault, Kiya."

"Then whose fault is it! Someone has to take the blame for this."

"Everything will turn out okay…."

_Everything will turn out okay.._ That's what everyone had been telling Kiya lately, and yet everything was just getting worse. Kiya was so into her thoughts that she didn't even notice that she had quietly repeated Botan's question.

Botan smiled weakly in response and uttered a small, "Bingo.." before putting her other hand on top of Kiya's and closing her eyes.

"_Kiya?"_ Kiya noticed the voice belonging to Koenma talking in her mind. _"Kiya, wake up.."_

-----------

Kiya's head snapped up off of Botan's hospital bed to look up in front of her. There stood Koenma and Kurama.

_Damnit, I feel asleep…_ she thought to herself. Kiya looked down at her warm hands to see that they were being covered by one of Botan's still hands. _What the…?_

It was then that Kiya heard it.

The steady straight tune of the heart monitor- its' non-breaking sound filling the small hospital room. It took Kiya a minute to process what both the sound and the sorrowful looks on Koenma's and Kurama's faces meant. Her silver eyes darted to the heart monitor, wide with fear.

There, on the monitor screen, was a straight line- traveling slowly from side of the monitor screen to the other. Kiya had seen enough movies to know what this meant, but had never seen it happen in person before.

"Oh, kami…no…" Kiya shook her head slightly at first, side to side, but then began to shake it violently as she stood from her chair abruptly, her eyes not leaving the monitor. "NO! Botan!...oh kami, Botan come back……."

"Kiya…." Kurama stated sympathetically.

"It's all my fault……." Her silver eyes were wide now, not blinking. If she had been even the tiniest bit more sane, she would've leapt at Kurama and wrapped her arms around him, seeking his comfort, since someone else was not there to comfort her. But now, Kiya was beyond sane. Way beyond. The kind of trauma Kiya had gone throught would've rendered anyone insane a long time ago, but since Kiya was a strong willed person, she had held on a lot longer.

And now she had snapped.

Kurama made a move for Kiya, but Koenma (in his teenager form) stopped him, not giving him a reason for his actions. Kurama would have tried to convince Koenma that comfort was what Kiya needed right now, if it weren't for the stampede of doctors hurrying through the door.

They all froze when they saw the heart monitor. It was minutes before anyone said anything. "I'm so sorry." Said the male youkai doctor in the front. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now." Koenma and Kurama nodded before stepping towards Kiya, grabbing her arms slightly and towing her out of the room, where everyone else- Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, Shizuru and Yukina were waiting.

"Well?" asked Keiko, who had just gotten out of the hospital two days ago. Kiya still couldn't look at her.

"I'm afraid that Botan has……passed on." Kurama said quietly as both him and Koenma let go of Kiya's arms and she just stood there, staring numbly into space.

…_passed on…._ Those two words flashed in Kiya's empty mind before she felt her legs give way, and everything went black.

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Kiya awoke in Koenma's empty office on the couch, a blanket draped over her small form. She blinked and sat up, trying to remember how she had gotten here.

Oh, yeah. The hospital……right here in Koenma's palace……..Botan dying……

Kiya suddenly felt like she was going to vomit, the foul taste in her mouth as unwelcome as the memory that had triggered it.

Botan was dead.

Kiya clenched her aching stomach and tried to stand up so that she could get out of this damned office, find Koenma, and get some answers- like if Botan was coming back. She stumbled slightly on her way to the door, still clutching the blanket. Kiya then realized that she must have slept through her transformation, it felt way too late for it not to have happened yet. As soon as she was at the door, reaching a hand to the doorknob, she heard voices outside in the hallway.

"Move it, pacifier breath. I need to see Kiya."

"No you don't, Yusuke. Kiya needs to get some rest. At least while she's asleep she won't have to think about……recent events."

Kiya heard Yusuke groan. "Can you bring Botan back?" Kiya recognized the voice belonging to Kuwabara.

There was a long pause and Kiya gripped the blanket around her shoulders tightly. _Please say yes……please._

It was Kurama who answered. "I ran a couple of tests on the poison that was injected into Botan's system. It was plant based- a very rare Makai plant- and the dosage amount was lethal. I'm afraid that it is uncertain whether Botan's spirit has survived. I guess we will just have to wait."

"WHAT!"

"Quiet down Kuwabara! We do not want to wake Kiya."

"Are we just gonna have to leave her here?"

"Actually, Yusuke, you all are going to stay here. I've come to the conclusion that it would be safer for all of you to stay here rather than in Ningenkai. You, Kuwabara, Kurama, Keiko, Yukina and Shizuru will stay here in my palace- that way you can be more heavily guarded. Tomorrow, when everyone has been well rested, I'll let you go back to Nigenkai to get your things and tell your families that you'll be leaving for a while."

"We don't need your stupid ogres 'guarding' us, toddler."

"Yeah!" It was Kuwabara. "We could stand up to anything better than your stupid guards, we don't need any help-" Kuwabara then said something so quietly beneath his breath that Kiya almost didn't catch it. "Although it would be nice if shorty were here."

That just proved how badly Hiei was needed here- by everyone. He was needed so badly, that even Kuwabara had admitted it.

"I agree. Things would be much easier- especially on Kiya- if Hiei were here."

"Yeah, well wishin' isn't going to bring him back. I'm going to bed, I need some sleep. Hey, binky brains, where are we supposed to sleep?"

"I was going to keep you all in my office- so my father wouldn't find out you're here, but your loud mouths might wake up Kiya. I'll show you to some guest rooms."

Kiya listened as she heard footsteps walking down the hallway, and then soon leaving her hearing-range. She was just standing there, staring at the door when she heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the door. "You should get some rest Kiya. You'll need it." It was Kurama.

Kiya didn't say anything- afraid that if she did say anything, her voice would crack from all of her raw emotions. Instead, she turned around and headed back to the couch through the darkness. She sat down on it and waited until she heard Kurama walk away from the door that she allowed herself to lean against the back of the couch and close her eyes. None of this was happening. Botan was still alive, Hiei was still here, Rob was not dead and everything was alright. Right?

_First step is denial._

_Did I ask you?_

_Did I ask you to ask me?_

_Will you just leave me alone for once? I don't need your nagging right now._

_Fine._

Kiya groaned to herself and plopped to the side, her shoulder resting on the arm of the love-seat. Sleep was Kiya's only escape from her mind right now- unless, of course, she had a dream- which in her state of both physical and emotional exhaustion- was very uncommon. In a matter of minutes, Kiya had returned to the empty grasps of slumber.

----------------------------THE NEXT DAY-----------------------------

Everyone who had spent the night in Koenma's palace was piled into his office, waiting impatiently for the portal that would take them all back to Ningenkai.

"HURRY UP!"

"Geez Yusuke, patience is a virtue." Came Shizuru's snide reply.

"Yeah, well who the hell cares?"

"Alright everybody," Koenma interrupted, "As soon as I make this portal, you will all have 24 hours to pack all of your necessities and meet back at Genkai's temple. It is no longer safe for any of you in Ningenkai- so make sure you are with at least one other person at all times. Understood?"

_Yeah, it's not safe because of me._ Kiya stood at the back of the group, her head down.

"Can we go now?" whined Kuwabara.

Koenma sighed and the portal appeared in a 'pop' of blue smoke. One by one, everyone in the office filed into and through the portal, until Kiya and Koenma were the only ones left in the room.

"Kiya-"

"Leave me alone, Koenma." And with that, Kiya slumped through the portal. As soon as she got to the other side, she was standing in the living room of Genkai's temple and everyone (even Genkai- who was in the room) was looking at her. Kiya just kept her head down and proceeded towards the stairs, but stopped walking when hearing a familiar raspy voice.

"You cannot keep blaming yourself, Kiya. Suck it up and stop feeling sorry for yourself."

Kiya turned around slowly to glare at the old woman, her jaw clenched. "Fuck you, you old hag." Kiya hissed through gritted teeth. She respected Genkai greatly, but right now was not the time to try to preach to Kiya- no matter how much you thought it was necessary. With that said, Kiya left that room and hurried upstairs to her own, closing and locking the door behind her. Sighing, she leaned against the door and raised her hand to her forehead, rubbing it slightly. This was all too much----so much that it's brutality towards Kiya's sanity was beyond words. She needed a reprieve- a break. She needed her normal life back- as normal as it could have gotten. She needed her parents- Rob- somebody.

She needed Hiei.

It suddenly dawned on Kiya how attached she had gotten to the fire youkai. After years of hating nearly everyone, that one koorime had managed to get through her tough façade and beneath her skin- the only person to be able to do that in her entire life.

She sighed to herself and began to pack, all the while hoping that- by some miracle- Hiei would come in through her open window.

------------------------IN MAKAI-------------------------

The dark-clad youkai stood in the middle of the body-covered field, and with one swipe to the side with his katana, it was free of any blood. Looking at the 20 some odd bodies lying in the grass, the youkai expected that he would've smirked- or something. But he didn't.

No matter how many lower and middle class demons he had killed did not rid him of his frustration. He came to Makai to get his mind off of Kiya, and the things she dad said to him that he could not say back- and so far, it hadn't worked- not one bit. Which meant one thing.

He was going to have to kill something bigger.

With that last thought, the dark youkai flitted off- in search of a higher class demon he could mutilate.

----------------------BACK WITH KIYA-------------------

Kiya zipped up her black, necessity-filled duffle bag and sat next to it on her bed, staring out the window. She had gotten done packing in under 20 minutes, all the while moving like a mad-woman just to keep her mind occupied. In that 20 minutes, she had become utterly frustrated.

She suddenly realized that instead of sulking about Hiei leaving her, she should be pissed off! She should be angry that he left her- abandoned her!

"Kiya-chan…are you finished?" She heard Yukina's soft voice say from the other side of her door. Since Koenma said that they had to be with someone else at all times, Kiya and Yukina decided to pair up.

"Yes, Yukina. I'm finished." Kiya picked up her bag and walked to her door with it. She opened the door to see Yukina with a small brown suitcase in her hand. Okay, so they hadn't stayed together when they packed, but who cared. Kiya needed more time to think anyways. She would've been horribly depressed right now- maybe even a little suicidal about Botan's death if it hadn't been for the hope that her soul would show up soon in Rekai and she would be back. That thought kept Kiya going.

In silence, Kiya and Yukina walked down the hallway, down the stairs and finally into the living room, where everyone else's bags were piled on one poor couch. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Shizuru and Keiko were already in the living room.

Everyone stayed quiet as Kiya and Yukina both placed their things on the floor next to the couch and Yukina went over to sit by Kuwabara on the couch and Kiya walked over to the windowsill, sitting up on it and looking outside. There was silence in the small room before someone finally spoke.

"I'm bored." It was Kuwabara.

"We'll have to find something to do until tomorrow," declared Yusuke.

"Train." Came the small but firm voice coming from the elemental on the windowsill. She had just realized that for the past 6 days, there had been no training. That's what she needed- back-breaking, sweat producing, hard-core training! Just the thought of it made Kiya sigh in relief.

"That's a good idea, Kiya. Alright, Yusuke and Kuwabara, you two can spar if you like, but I think I will train Kiya." Kurama looked over to Kiya who was looking at him and smiled.

"Fine by me." Yusuke left out the part about him afraid of getting his ass kicked by some ticked off elemental- for that would bruise his inflated ego.

Without another word, Kiya and Kurama walked out of the room, Kiya ahead of him, and outside- through the forest and to the familiar break in the trees that created the training field. Kiya walked over to a tree where she had hidden her sais' and pulled them out of the owl hole. She then, with the sais' (each in one hand) walked over to stand in front of Kurama, taking her fighting stance.

"I won't go easy on you, Kiya."

"Good."

With that, Kiya used her ability to fly to charge at the kitsune, her sias' aimed straight for his chest, but as she was nearing 4 feet away from him, he quickly reached behind his ear, pulled out his infamous rose and it transformed into the dreaded whip that had mutilated Kiya not too long ago- just in time to block her sais' with a loud 'clank'.

Kiya growled as she tried to attack him from behind, swinging her blades at his legs, but Kurama simply jumped out of the way. As Kiya kept attacking him, she oculdnt help but notice how he wasn't even trying.

"Kiya, you must focus. All of your emotions are getting in the way of your fighting. Clear your mind." Kurama instructed in such a calm voice, Kiya knew he wasn't at all concerned about her hitting him.

_I'll show you emotion, pretty boy.._

The next 3 hours of Kiya's life were spent trying- and failing miserably- to attack Kurama and prove to herself, as well as him, that she hadn't totally lost it. By this time, Kiya finally realized that maybe Kurama was right- maybe her emotions were getting in the way. She cursed herself for being so stupid. She finally stopped moving and looked at Kurama.

"I'm going to meditate, this is ridiculous."

"I was just thinking the same thing…" Kiya shot him a glare and he quickly added "….I agree that you should meditate…" Kiya sighed and let her glare disappear, she wasn't in the mood to pick fights. She plopped down right where she was and closed her eyes. She listened to Kurama's retreating footsteps and cracked open one eye to see him watching her, leaning against the base of a tree. Kiya closed her eye again and began to focus on her breathing.

Inhale deeply through the nose, hold it as long as comfortable- exhale deeply through the mouth, hold it as long as possible. Repeat.

She then worked on relaxing every muscle in her body, Since Kiya hadn't done this in a while, it took her a little longer to get started. She started with her head. She relaxed her eyelids, her cheeks, her mouth and her chin. She then moved lower, relaxing her nech, shoulders, arms hands, fingers, torso, legs and feet. Within a matter of minutes, Kiya's body was entirely relaxed and her mind was completely blank- focusing on nothing but her breathing.

This went on for 20 minutes before Kiya's senses picked up on some movement to her right, coming from Kurama. She opened her eyes just in time to see his rose whip hurtling towards her- and she had barely enough time to block his attack with an energy orb. Kurama smiled, happy to see that Kiya's fighting was back to normal and brought his whip down towards her again. Kiya reached behind her back to get her sais' and created an 'X' with them above her head, connecting with the thorny whip. Almost too quickly to be seen, Kiya dropped the sais in one of her hands and held out that hand towards Kurama.

"Water Ball!" She yelled and a water orb soon materialized in front of her hand and flew to Kurama, connecting with his gut. He flew back about 2 feet and landed with a grunt. Her attack didn't pack as much of a punch as Kiya would've hoped, but she was proud of herself none the less.

Kurama rubbed his torso and stood to his feet. "Good job, Kiya."

"Yup." Kami, it felt good to mouth off to him again. Kurama changed his whip back into the rose and placed it behind his ear. Kiya's eyes widened. "That's it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. I have something to discuss with Genkai-sama before we leave to Koenma's palace." With that, Kurama turned and left. Kiya cursed to herself and shifted from foot to the other- anxious for something to do. She had gotten moving and now she couldn't stop- she needed to sweat more- so she wouldn't feel useless. With that thought, Kiya broke off in a sprint to the forest, her jaw set in concentration.

------------------------5 HOURS LATER (7:00 pm)----------------------------

Kiya crawled up the temple steps in a panting heap of damp blue hair and sweaty clothes sticking to her body. She stood shakily to her feet and stumbled through the front door of the temple, grasping the wall for support. That run shouldn't have left her this breathless- which just proved her point about her being out of shape. Without paying any attention to the eerily quiet teens in the living room and made her way upstairs, all the while thinking, _me……need……Shower!_

She walked right into the bathroom in her room and stripped off her sweaty clothes, wrinkling her face at the smell of them. She tossed them in the corner of the small bathroom and walked into her shower, sliding the door closed behind her. She turned the knob, which sent freezing cold water pouring all over her. Kiya just stood there for a while, letting the water soak her already damp skin, before grabbing the bar of soap and covering her entire body with scented suds. While she washed away the suds in the water, Kiya shampooed her hair with her favorite lavender-scented shampoo- her long fingers swaying between her blue locks, her eyes halfway closed.

Kiya stepped back into the flow of the water and while she let the liquid do it's job, riding her hair of the suds, she made 3 water balls, about 3 inches in diameter, rise from the bottom of the tub and sway in-between her outstretched fingers.

When the suds were all gone, Kiya conditioned her long hair, rinsed it out and turned off the water. Getting out of the tub, Kiya grabbed a towel from the rack on the wall and wrapped it around her figure while she gathered all of the water from her hair and made it drop into the tub- so that her hair was just a little less than dry. She grabbed a brush from the counter and ran it through her straight, midnight blue hair repeatedly. Still brushing her hair, Kiya opened her bathroom door and took one step out of it………

………….that's how far she got before her gaze caught the gaze of the blood-covered person standing against her wall- and she gasped, feeling the brush drop from her fingers and fall to the floor.

**-------------------------------------------------------------**

Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	23. Chapter 23

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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Previously:

Still brushing her hair, Kiya opened her bathroom door and took one step out of it………

………….that's how far she got before her gaze caught the gaze of the blood-covered person standing against her wall- and she gasped, feeling the brush drop from her fingers and fall to the floor.

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**Chapter 23: I Hope You're Not Expecting a Welcome Back Party, Jerk**

"Tomorrow is the day, companions. Kiya will be ours." The fire elemental boasted, grinning evilly at the screen where a picture of said Kiya was being displayed.

"Yes. Tomorrow will be the tenth night of her transformations and she will not be able to resist the urge to come to us. I have already set up a faulty portal in the forest behind the old hag's temple. Undetectable. Kiya will go there."

"Very good, Aerosaku. On the next full moon, the ritual of dominance shall begin," He laughed a low, sadistic laugh and held up his silver chalice filled with red wine. "cheers.' The other elementals at the table began to laugh as well and clanked their glasses against each others.

-----------------------WITH KIYA-------------------------

The bloody figure, leaning tiredly against the wall of her room………… was Hiei.

Kiya's first reaction was, _Great, I've gotten so damned obsessed with the thought of Hiei coming back, that I'm hallucinating, _but the way that Hiei's eyes locked wither her own once she stepped out of the shower told her that she was dead wrong.

Hiei was back- and hurt….badly.

Without saying a thing, Kiya ran back into her bathroom, grabbed her first-aid kit and robe, and while pulling her blue robe on, she ran out of her bathroom and over to Hiei- who had not yet taken his eyes from hers.

"Jesus Hiei, what happened to you?" Of course, she got no response, so she led Hiei over to her bed and ordered, "Sit."

Hiei's eyes would've widened at the fact that she was ordering him around instead of vice versa, if he had had the strength. But he didn't, so he sucked in his breath- along with his pride- and sat down.

Kiya quickly pulled her damp towel from her body, then tied her robe shut, making sure to do it quickly enough that no part of her had been exposed. She took her towel and looked back to Hiei, biting her lower lip, trying to decide where to start.

"Take off your shirt." Hiei's gaze shot to Kiya's in a 'yeah-right' sort of way. Kiya sighed deeply then said, "Take off your shirt Hiei, or I'll do it for you."

That worked.

Hiei strained to remove the bloody shirt from his equally bloody upper-body, wincing on the inside when he felt the fabric being ripped out of his wounds- where the cloth had been partially imbedded. Hiei flung his discarded shirt to the side weakly and watched as Kiya's eyes widened.

She had never seen anyone so torn up in her life, and the sight and smell of Hiei's blood was almost enough to make her gag, but she tightened her lips into a straight line and immediately went to work- gently cleaning Hiei's wounds, starting with the ones on his chest. She ran the maroon towel over his chest slowly, doing a very good job of clearing all of the blood from his chest. If her focus hadn't been on the job at hand, Kiya would've noticed Hiei staring at her.

She moved on to the rest of his body- (both of his arms, his neck, back and one gash on his right leg). When she was done, Kiya grabbed the roll of bandages from her kit and immediately began wrapping Hiei's wounds- tightly. She was wrapping them that tightly for two reasons. One: to make sure that his wounds wouldn't start bleeding again, and Two: because the anger she had been building up inside her since Hiei left was starting to show itself. When she was finished, Kiya stood up from her bed and omoved in front of Hiei, glaring down at him.

Hiei- now feeling a little better- returned her glare ten-fold.

"I deserve an explanation, fire boy. Why did you leave?"

"Hn." Hiei stood as well, but a little slower than he normally would have and walked across the room. When he reached her window, he just stood by it, looking outside.

"Don't start with the 'hn' crap, Hiei. You have no idea of the hell I went through while you were gone." Kiya walked over to him.

Hiei didn't say anything- but inside, his thoughts were reeling. Of course he knew what had happened to her, for he used his Jagan eye to check on her at least 5 times a day. Kiya found out who killed Rob- Botan had been murdered- he knew about everything. And yet, he stayed quiet, not seeing a reason to correct her false accusations.

"You have no idea how much I missed you. How much I needed you."

It was then that Hiei finally looked into Kiya's angry and relieved eyes. He turned his body, so he was facing her- the drowning silence filling the room made Kiya squirm.

"Where did you go?" She repeated.

Kiya had no idea what hell Hiei had been through whilst he was gone as well. He had spent the entire week searching and killing his way through Makai. Part of him was looking for the damned elemental lair- so that he could murder every cold- blooded bastard within it's walls, and the other half was desperate for a good fight to take his mind off of Kiya.

And, boy, had he found one.

He came across an air demon named Giyu- a powerful 'A' class demon. Hiei, being his normal cocky self, proposed a fight with Giyu- who of course accepted his challenge.

It had taken Hiei 5 grueling hours to finally decapitate the youkai- but not before receiving a number of fatal wounds himself. If he had not returned to Ningenkai when he had, he would have surely died of blood loss.

So, instead of an answer, Kiya received a firm shove from the fire apparition, his hands at her shoulders, her back now to the wall.

"Hiei, what the hell are you-" she was cut off by the youkai's urgent lips. Kiya's silver eyes widened as Hiei's arms slid around her waist, pulling her to him.

She didn't want to not be mad at him anymore- she wanted to hate him for laving her, abandoning her…….but that was practically impossible to do when Hiei's lips were pressed against her own, making all of her anger disappear.

So, instead of pushing away like she should have, Kiya placed both of her hands on the back of Hiei's neck and deepened the kiss, tilting her head so that the angle was more comfortable for both of them. She thought she could feel Hiei wince when Kiya's hand brushed the wound on the back of his neck, and was about to step back to ask if he was okay, but Hiei instead pulled her tighter.

Kiya could hear herself sigh in content. Her Hiei was back. She felt Hiei's tongue brush impatiently across her bottom lip and she smirked to herself before parting her lips so that Hiei could further the kiss.

He did so, immediately taking advantage of Kiya's invitation and taking the kiss to new heights by allowing his tongue roam within her mouth. Kiya greeted his intrusion with her own tongue, probing and teasing his, while fully wrapping her arms around his neck.

Kiya could've sworn she heard a small moan being emitted from Hiei's throat, but as soon as she tried to focus on the sound, Hiei pushed her up against the wall again, broke the kiss, and moved his hungry mouth to her neck.

_I guess this is the closet I'll ever get to a sorry from him…_ Kiya thought to herself as Hiei trailed rough kisses down her neck, all the way to the junction of her neck and shoulder. When he stopped there, his lips just hovering a whisper above Kiya's flesh, she opened her mouth to ask if something was wrong……

………..but instead what came out was a gasp- a gasp of surprise as much as a gasp of pain.

Hiei had just bitten her neck! Kiya could feel Hiei's fangs digging deeper into her flesh and she began to squirm. Her neck burned! But, Hiei tightened his grip on her so she wouldn't move, and continued to sink his teeth into his flesh, until they could go no further. When Hiei withdrew his fangs quickly, Kiya winced- that hurt like hell! Kiya's hand flew to her neck and she looked at it. Crimson was painted on her fingertips.

Kiya turned her attentions to Hiei as he bent his head down and gently licked the blood that was falling down her shoulder away.

Kiya would've said something to break the silence, but she could find no words. Hiei bit her! For the love of kami he……….he…….

Kiya's eyes widened when she figured it out. Hiei marked her.

Her suspicions were proven true when she looked back into the crimson orbs staring at her. The look of possession he gave her along with the words he said told her that he truly had marked her. "You are mine now." His low voice had a hint to it that Kiya had never heard form him before. It was a mix of command and triumph.

The young elemental was so happy she wanted to scream- but since that wasn't her style, she came up with something better. The only problem: she didn't have fangs.

Without warning, Kiya leaned forward and immediately began nibble on Hiei's neck, clutching the sides of his arms so he wouldn't move away. Certain that Hiei was reading her mind with his Jagan, trying to figure out what the hell she was doing, Kiya sent him her explanation mentally.

_If you can claim me, then I can claim you._ And with that, Kiya nipped at Hiei's neck a little harder- giving him a hickey. Sure it wasn't permanent, like Hiei's mark was, but for Kiya it was good enough.

She pulled back with a smirk on her face. "You are mine."

Hiei raised his right hand to feel at the tender skin on his neck, then, with a smirk on his face, muttered a quick, "Hn," before claiming her lips once more with one swift dive.

"Hey Kiya- the gang and I are going to go out to the arcade for a while, do you want to come?" It was Yusuke.

Both Kiya and hiei growled as they pulled away from each other and Kiya cursed Yusuke beneath her breath. "No Yusuke. I'll stay here."

"Fine." Yusuke didn't tell her, but the reason why everyone was going to the arcade was to try to get their minds off of Botan, and he thought it would help Kiya. Too bad she didn't want to come. With a sigh, Yusuke walked back down to the living room to leave with his friends to the arcade.

As soon as he was sure Yusuke was gone, Hiei turned back to Kiya, but instead of looking at him, she was looking out the window.

"You never answered my question, Hiei. Where did you go? You'd better answer me this time."

Kiya turned to look at Hiei who was giving her an icy look. "You shouldn't talk to me that way."

"And you shouldn't have run away from me."

"_I don't run from anything, onna."_

_Anything but me._

Hiei suddenly narrowed his eyes at her and Kiya realized she was fighting a losing battle, so she just kissed his cheek and grinned at him, before walking past him and going to her closet.

Hiei turned to watch her. "What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed, warden." She snickered to herself at her koi's new nickname, while Hiei growled at it, and she reached into her closet to pick out a pair of jeans and a camouflage tank top. She turned to Hiei. "Do I have to go in the bathroom, or can I trust you not to look?"

Hiei just stared at her.

"Id better go in the bathroom." Kiya was about to turn around to go to the bathroom, but saw Hiei turn, facing the window. Kiya decided to trust that Hiei wouldn't turn around because he wasn't a pervert, and she got undressed, turning around just for safety. She got dressed a little faster than usual, but who cares?

Once she was done, she turned back around to see that Hiei was still facing the window, and she smiled to herself.

Hiei turned around to look at her, straining and grabbing his right arm in the process.

The silence filled the small room once again and Kiya's look changed from normal, to angry. "I hope you're not expecting a welcome back party. I swear to Kami, Hiei- if you ever leave me again, I'll…"

He cut her off. "I won't."

Kiya's silver eyes narrowed as she looked deeply into Hiei's crimson orbs and she said quietly, "I'm holding you to that." **Translation: You promise?**

"Hn." **Translation: I promise.**

Kiya looked over at her bedside clock that read **8:33 pm.** By now, Kiya was already in her transformation………..what was going on?

Hiei saw her look of confusion and Kiya told him what was on her mind. "I should've transformed by now……."

-----------------------SOMEWHERE IN MAKAI-------------------------

"Yes….that's it……" Aerosaku cooed into the glowing bright orb ontop of his silver staff. Within the orb, was a picture of a blue haired elemental.

"Aerosaku, what's going on?" Asked Jasaro as he and Terra entered the room.

"Our little Kiya-chan has just shown the final sign of the end of her resistance. Her transformation did not come tonight."

"Good," started Terra. "That means that by tomorrow for sure she will come to us, correct?"

"Correct."

------------------------BACK TO KIYA----------------------------

Before Hiei could say anything, though Kiya doubted he was going to say anything, she shook her head in annoyance. "I'm sure it's nothing. If anything I should be glad that I get a night of freedom…" Kiya spoke as she and Hiei slowly made their way downstairs to the living room, a silent agreement between the two of them told them that they were both tired of being in that room. "……………Hiei?"

"Hai,"

"I think (yawn) I'm about to fall asleep….." Kiya felt so weird saying this. Hiei had just gotten back from wherever the hell he had come from, and all she could think of right now was how exhausted she was. _I'm so pathetic…_

Hiei merely nodded before seating himself on the windowsill, his knees pulled up and his red eyes staring at the elemental.

Kiya yawned once more before climbing onto the windowsill next to Hiei, careful not to brush any of his wounds- as if he were a baby.

That thought made Kiya chuckle to herself. It was hard to see Hiei as ever being a baby, seeing how mature and tough he was.

It wasn't long before Kiya let her exhaustion take over and she was breathing heavily, signaling her deep sleep.

Hiei just watched the girl in front of him slip into slumber land- almost concerned that if he fell asleep, something- anything, would happen to his beloved koi. HE would not be separated from her again- he would protect her always.

Even though he was sure Kiya could easily take care of herself.

--------------------------LATER THAT NIGHT-------------------------

When Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko and Shizuru returned to the temple form their long day venturing the town for probably the last time in a long time, they were met by an almost silent house. The almost meaning the incoherent mumbling coming from the direction of the living room. (Kurama was with his mother and Yukina had already gone to Koenma's palace- to keep the now lonely toddler company- much to Kuwabara's annoyance.)

"What the-" Kuwabara started loudly, but was interrupted by Yusuke impatiently shushing him and holding a finger to his lips- signaling to everyone to be quiet.

Silently, the group of four tip-toed their way down the hallway to the living room, where they all peeked over the edge of the doorway. When looking into the dark living room, their attentions immediately went to the two figures on the windowsill, their silhouettes darkened by the contrast of the light of the moon behind them.

One of the figures was sitting up against the side of the windowsill, its arms around the second figure, who rested peacefully between figure #1's legs- their back to #1's chest.

It was very obvious to the four at the door who the second figure was, for her long blue hair pooled around her small frame was a dead giveaway.

The first figure was also obvious, just a little less believable. The sight of their up-stretching black hair was enough to make Keiko and Kuwabara gasp. It was Hiei.

"Shorty's back?" Kuwabara asked loudly. Before Yusuke could shush him again and hitting him for being so loud, Kuwabara was shut up by one of Hiei's red eyes snapping open and giving all four of them the scariest death glare they had all seen which clearly meant, _You wake Kiya, you will die._

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko and Shizuru didn't have to be given that look twice- so they all (as quietly as possible) scrambled and climbed over each other to be the first one out of the door and as far away from the menacing fire youkai as possible.

As soon as Hiei was sure that the fools were gone, he opened his other eye and gazed down at the blue-haired girl in his lap before looking once more outside.

Never, not in a million years, would Hiei have guessed that he would ever be sitting on his windowsill with someone else, having that person touching him- let alone lying against him, and him being okay with it.

But, he was  sitting on his windowsill with someone else, that person was lying against him, and ha was okay with it.

If Hiei were the smiling type, he would've smiled. But since he most certainly was not that type of person, Hiei simply tightened his hold on the girl lying against him and allowed his eyes to close- waiting for sleep to meet him…..

…….but sleep would not come. Hiei's Jagan would not allow it- for it was aching horribly. That was a sure sign of terrible things to come and Hiei could hear himself start to growl lowly.

If those damned elementals so much as even touched his Kiya, they would all meet a very untimely end- by a swift swipe of a steady katana blade, wielded by a very protective fire youkai.

With the reassurance of that thought, Hiei inhaled deeply, catching a quick whiff of Kiya's scent, and fell asleep.

----------------WITH YUSUKE----------------

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko and Shizuru all sat in another room of the temple talking.

"Where do you think he went?" asked Keiko.

"I don't know- all I know is that-" Yusuke was cut off by a raspy voice coming from the doorway.

"He picked the perfect time to come back," the old psychic entered the room.

They all looked to her and Yusuke said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means -dimwit- that tomorrow is not going to be a good day for Kiya, she's going to need Hiei here to help her out with what she'll do tomorrow.. Oh and by the way, Hiei went to Makai."

"How would you know?" Yusuke's voice reeked of attitude.

"Wait, how did Hiei get to Makai without a portal?" asked Shizuru.

"He had a portal." Genkai closed her eyes and placed her arms behind her back.

"How the hell could he have gotten a portal?……the only people who could've given him one is Botan and Koenma- and I'm sure neither of them would've given him one without telling us."

"Think again, Yusuke. Hiei made sure that Koenma wouldn't tell anyone where he was off to."

"Koenma gave him a portal?" Yelled Kuwabara.

"Hai. As it turns out, Hiei's katana can be very persuasive- especially from a toddler's point of view."

Yusuke and Kuwabara both got sweat drops "Isn't that just like him- threatening a baby…" started Yusuke. "Well, I guess we should call Kurama and tell him Hiei's back. I'd also like to have a talk with that stupid toddler- he should've at least told Kiya, to save her the trouble of thinking that Hiei left her----even though he did….."

"You know what they say," started Keiko. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

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-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie'!

Keep on Truckin'!


	24. Chapter 24

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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Previously:

"Hai. As it turns out, Hiei's katana can be very persuasive- especially from a toddler's point of view."

Yusuke and Kuwabara both got sweat drops "Isn't that just like him- threatening a baby…" started Yusuke. "Well, I guess we should call Kurama and tell him Hiei's back. I'd also like to have a talk with that stupid toddler- he should've at least told Kiya, to save her the trouble of thinking that Hiei left her----even though he did….."

"You know what they say," started Keiko. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

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**Chapter 24: So It Begins:**

The bright sun seeping in through Kiya's open bedroom window rudely awoke her from her soundless sleep- the only real rest she had gotten since Hiei had left and come back. She groaned out loud and rolled over, digging her face into her pillow- trying her hardest to reclaim her sleep.

Wait……pillow? The last thing Kiya remembered was falling asleep with Hiei on the windowsill. The windowsill had no pillows- nor any blankets, at least, that's what Kiya thought the warmth surrounding her was coming from, a blanket.

Keeping her eyes closed, Kiay felt around her blindly. The soft mattress and comforter beneath her searching hand told her that she was indeed in a bed. Her bed.

Had it all been a dream? Was Hiei's return just a fragment of her hopeful imagination? Kami, she hoped not.

Sitting up, Kiya tiredly blinked her eyes open and inhaled deeply- catching a wiff of a very familiar scent of sulfur and pine trees. Kiya looked down at her body to find the source of the familiar scent and the warmth surrounding her. It was a black cloak, a little- too- big- for- her cloak.

Hiei's cloak.

She smiled slightly. So his return wasn't just a scenario she dreamt. He really was back- and he must have carried her to her room- but why and where he was now- she did not know.

She rose form her bed slowly, gripping the large cloak on her tightly, so the heat around her would not dissipate until she could get some of her own clothes on. Once she reached her closet, she rummaged through it for something warm to wear. She found tight fitting white jeans and a large black hoodie with a yin-yang on the front. She discarded Hiei's cloak onto her bed and got dressed quickly, figuring she could shower at Koenma's palace.

Today was the day that she, along with the rest of her friends were supposed to go to Koenma's palace. She decided that she was going to ask Hiei to come with her- she wasn't sure why. Mostly because she enjoyed his company- a lot, but there was another reason, one less obvious. It was because Kiya was afraid. For the first time in her life, Kiya was afraid- afraid for her own life, and the lives of the people around her. Kiya felt that with Hiei there, they'd all be at least a little safer.

Kiya walked out of her room, wondering if everyone had already gone to Koenma's palace without her. The loud voices coming from the living room as Kiya drew nearer to the stairs told her that they had not yet left.

The voice was yelling- and belonged to Yusuke.

"**Are You Crazy?"** Yelled Yusuke's voice, and Kiya stopped walking, pressing her back against the wall so that she could listen to the conversation going on downstairs without being seen. "You knew where Hiei was the whole time and you never told us? Even Kiya!"

Kiya's eyes widened. Who knew where Hiei had been? Why hadn't they told her?

Kiya strained to hear the weary and nervous voice replying to Yusuke.

"H-He told me not to. I didn't want to die!"

Kiya gasped quietly. It was Koenma's voice! That damn toddler had better have a good explanation as to why he hadn't told Kiya where Hiei had been, or she was going to give him 10 seconds to get as far away from her as possible so she wouldn't be tempted to end his little pitiful life.

"Hiei, what does Koenma mean by this?" inquired Kurama's voice.

Kiya could hear Hiei give an obnoxious 'Hn.' and she smirked. That's her little obnoxious pyro.

"H-he told me not to tell anyone that he was going to Makai…….I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"

"Hiei threatened him," answered Yusuke, but Kiya didn't hear him; she was too busy stomping down the stairs and into the living room, her eyes flaring.

She walked right over to Koenma, in his teenage form, reached up to grab the collar of his shirt, and yanked on it, pulling his face down so it was mere inches form her own. It was quite a funny sight, actually.

"You have three seconds to explain yourself, toddler, or you're going to be a puddle." She hissed through clenched teeth. If everyone's attentions were on Hiei instead of the small Kiya threatening the ruler of Rekai, they would've seen him smirking.

"H-hold on a minute….."

"One."

"HA! The baby's gonna get it," Yusuke laughed.

"Kiya, l-listen, Hiei threatened-"

"Two."

"Hiei would've killed me if I told any of you where he went….ask him why!"

Kiya held Koenma in that position for a moment longer, glaring into his wide eyes, before abruptly letting go of him and smirking when he crashed to the floor with an ungraceful 'thump'. It was then that Kiya looked around her. There, in the living room, stood Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Keiko, Shizuru and Hiei. Kiya looked straight at Hiei, who was sitting on the windowsill, looking back at her. Confidant that he was reading her mind, she sent him her thoughts.

_You……me……bedroom……now._

It wasn't until after Kiya had sent the thoughts to the telepath that she realized how sexual she had just sounded- she cringed and blushed slightly. Without a word to anyone, Kiya walked back upstairs to her room, knowing that Hiei was already there- and not realizing that a pair of green mixed with amber eyes were staring at the partially revealed red mark on her neck.

"……ok……." Said Kuwabara, breaking the silence.

Once she was inside her room, she closed the door behind her and locked it, then turned around to face the stoic fire youkai standing by her far wall.

"Alright, now that I know where you went, I want to know why."

Hiei just looked at her, his eyes narrowing. Kiya groaned.

"It's just a simple question, Hiei- and could be dealt with by a simple answer. Was it because of me? Did you leave to get away from me?"

"Yes." And no. He needed to get away from Kiya to sort out his emotions- but it wasn't because of her. It was because of him.

'Yes', was not the answer Kiya wanted to hear, and her spirits dropped. Hiei had left because of her- Because he wanted to get away from her?

"_You've got it wrong, onna,"_ Came Hiei's stoic voice in her head. She would've yelled at him for –again- invading her privacy and calling her onna, but she was interested in what he had to say. _"I needed to be alone- needed to think."_

If Kiya had ever heard Hiei try to console someone, she imagined it would sound like this. So, he needed time to think…….

…….that was good enough for her.

Before either of them could say anything else they heard a loud knock on Kiya's door followed by a couple of snickers. Then Yusuke's voice.

"Hey! I hope you two are practicing safe sex in there!"

Both Hiei's and Kiya's eyes narrowed as they readied themselves to run to the door and tackle that damned spirit detective to the ground. Hiei beat Kiya to it.

Hiei threw open the door and Kiya could hear girlish squeals (two of them) from outside her door and could see Hiei begin to un-sheathe his katana. Kiya looked over Hiei's shoulder to see both Yusuke and Kuwabara cowering against the wall on the floor, staring wide-eyed at the sword being drawn for them.

"Run." Came the one word from Hiei, his voice low and dangerous. Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't need to be told twice. They both scrambled to their feet and dashed out of the hallway, screaming bloody murder.

Kiya began laughing her ass off while Hiei took off after the two, quite enjoying the fear he was invoking in the two 'bakas'.

While Hiei and the two detectives were downstairs, Kurama walked upstairs to talk to Kiya.

"Hey Kurama."

"Hello, Kiya." Kiya watched as Kurama's eyes quickly trailed downward to her neck, then up to her eyes again. "It is nearly time to go. Do you have all of your things ready?"

"Hai."

"Good. And Kiya- " Kiya looked back to Kurama and she thought she could see a slight sadness in the depths of his green orbs, but it was soon gone, "Hiei missed you- as much as you missed him." With that, he turned around and walked back down the hallway. Kiya frowned, and then followed.

Once downstairs, Kiya could see that Kuwabara was hiding behind the couch and Yusuke's shirt was in Hiei's grasp, a katana to his throat.

"Jeez, H-Hiei, alright. No more sex jokes."

Hiei glared at Yusuke one moment longer, then muttered a quick "Hn," and shoved the detective away from him.

Keiko and Shizuru stood against the wall, watching the show unfold in front of them. Keiko leaned towards Shizuru and whispered, "Did you notice how much Hiei and Kiya act alike?"

"It's kind of hard not to notice."

"O-okay everybody," started Koenma, now trying to re-compose his stature, "We need to get going."

Everyone in the room nodded and Kiya could hear Kuwabara say quietly, "Here I come, Yukina." She rolled her eyes and whilst doing so, saw Genkai in the doorway out of the corner of her eye.

Kiya walked to the old psychic and bowed slightly. "Arigato, Genkai-sama- for letting me stay here, for training me and-"

"Shut it," came the raspy interruption. "There's no need for sappy good-byes."

Kiya smiled and reached forward to hug the old psychic- who didn't hug back of course.

"This is incase I don't ever see you again." Kiya whispered, referring to the hug, then let go and walked over to Hiei. "Are you going to come with us?" Kiya could hear everyone behind her entering the portal.

Hiei looked to Kiya, then past her shoulder to Yukina, then back to Kiya.

"Hn." He said with a small nod, and Kiya beamed. She figured that the only reason Hiei was coming was to keep an eye on Yukina.

_**Still in denial I see, Kiya.**_

_Shut up. I'm not in denial about anything._

_**You're in denial about being in denial.**_

_And how does that work out?_

**_Nevermind………He's going to keep an eye on you and Yukina, dumb ass._**

_Ah……_

Kiya stopped talking to herself when she felt a tug on her arm. She looked up to see Hiei looking back at her impatiently, everyone else who was in the room a minute ago had gone.

Hiei turned around towards the portal, pulling Kiya with him.

"Patience is a virtue, Koi." **(Love)**

"I have no interest in virtu-" Hiei stopped dead in his tracks. He spun around to look at Kiya. "What did you call me?"

It took Kiya a minute to realize what she had said, but when she did, she just gave Hiei a sly grin. "I called you Koi, Hiei." She leant up and pressed a quick kiss to Hiei's lips and then walked past him. "Move it or lose it, fire boy, let's go." Having Hiei back was doing wonders to both her mood and self esteem- she was even mouthing off to him! Now that took guts.

It took Hiei a minute to re-collect his control- (all of which was focused on keeping himself from pouncing on Kiya to finish what she had started), then shook his head slightly and followed Kiya through the portal.

Once on the other side, Kiya and Hiei were met by Koenma immediately beginning to explain everything. "Okay everybody, I know you're probably wondering about Botan, and I'm afraid that I have both bad and good news. The good news is that her spirit has not yet come through spirit world-"

_Isn't that a bad thing?_

"-Which means that her spirit could still be out there, just lost. But with that comes the bad news. Not being able to find her spirit could also mean that her spirit was destroyed by the poison that was injected into her system. All we can do is hope that her spirit is still out there somewhere."

The solemn silence that filled the room urged Koenma to go on.

"On another- still-not-too-cheery-note, the elemental energy in Makai has boomed once again- and I'm sorry to say that I have no idea what they're going to do next. All I know is that if they are going to do something, it's going to be soon." By now, Koenma was looking straight at Kiya. "I'm sorry Kiya, but you aren't safe by yourself any longer. Even here. Now-" He looked around the room, "Who wants to be Kiya's escort- her bodyguard?"

"I will." Said Yusuke- figuring that it was an 'older brother's' job to protect his 'sister'.

"I'd be more than happy to be Kiya's escort." Came Kurama's reply- although, it was mostly Youko speaking. Kurama knew that Kiya was Hiei's territory, and therefore he would probably end up being her escort. Kuwabara was too busy drooling over Yukina to hear what was going on.

Koenma was about to open his mouth to announce who, out of Yusuke and Kurama, was to be her escort, but a possessive grunt and a hand grabbing Kiya's arm had declared who Kiya's 'bodyguard' was to be.

"Alright, Hiei. You will have to stay with Kiya at all times, never let her leave your sight-" Before Kiya could cut him off, he hastily added, "Except for when she's in the shower……and using the bathroom…….and getting dressed….

"How about I just show you all to your rooms."

------------------LATER THAT NIGHT------------------

Kiya was sitting on the bed in the room that she shared with Hiei- writing in her journal, Blaze. Hiei was sitting on the windowsill. Instead of looking outside, the fire youkai's eyes were intent on Kiya.

**Hello again, Blaze.**

**Writing all of my thoughts down completely might take a while, so I'm going to sum them down a bit.**

**I'm now living, along with everyone else, in Koenma's palace- apparently Ningenkai was no longer safe for any of us. I didn't have my transformation last night, and I'm too afraid to ask why….afraid of the answer. I share a room with Hiei- Yes. Oops, I hope he doesn't read that- or see it in my mind. Living with a telepath can be a bitch- but its okay because he's hot. I hope he doesn't read that either.**

**I called him Koi today. He didn't go as crazy as I thought he would, and that's good. I think I love him, Blaze. I'm not sure what love is supposed to feel like, but I'm pretty sure this is at least close to it. The fluttering of the stomach whenever I see him, the feeling of separation anxiety when he's gone. I sort of feel like a trusty dog.**

**I don't want to be a dog………..**

**Alright, Hiei's staring at me and it's sort of freaking me out. I guess I'll write later.**

**Assuming that I live that long.**

**-Me**

Kiya closed her black leather-bound journal and placed it to the side. She turned her face to stare back at the Jaganshi, who had turned his head already to stare outside.

"Are you alright Hiei?"

She got no response.

No- Hiei was not alright. He couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen- for his Jagan had not stopped burning since last night.

Kiya sighed and got under the covers for her bed, yawning- not even bothering to get into pajamas. "Good night, Hiei." She reached up and pulled on the cord dangling above her head, and therefore extinguishing the lights in the small palace guest room. Kiya was surprised that the room could fit all three of them.

That's right, the three of them. Kiya, Hiei and Hiei's ego.

Hiei was surprised how quickly Kiya fell asleep, and he couldn't help but stare at her sleeping form, feeling a sudden surge of triumph and pride when his hawk-like gaze caught sight of the red mark on Kiya's neck.

She was his- and he couldn't believe it. She was finally his.

After hours of staying awake, his over-protective senses aware of everything happening around him- he allowed his eyes to close.

------------------------------

Hiei awoke almost immediately once feeling that the precious presence in the room with him was gone. His crimson eyes snapped open and immediately went to the bed in which Kiya had fallen asleep in just 4 hours before.

It was empty. The covers were thrown, and the door to the room was wide open.

Hiei let out an in-humane growl as he quickly got off the window sill and flitted into the living room. He could still sense her in the palace, she was close, but something was wrong with her.

Hiei, his mind now over-ridden with fury and concern- emotions he had only felt for one other person in his entire life- flitted away to follow Kiya's aura.

After minutes of nerve-wrecking searching, Hiei found his beloved water elemental in the main hallway, the one leading right to the large palace front door. She was walking gracefully and slowly, as if she were floating- towards the large front door.

Hiei, immediately sensing that something was incredibly wrong with Kiya, flitted in front of her, blocking her path.

He was about to demand to know what she was doing out of bed, but the sight of Kiya's eyes stopped the words, trapping them in his throat.

Her eyes were blue….. Completely and totally blue- the same devastating mid-night blue as her hair. His own crimson orbs widened as he hissed. Those damn elementals were beckoning her- calling her...

…….Trying to take her away from him. Kiya continued walking, nearly bumping into Hiei until he roughly placed both his hands on her shoulders, trying to make her stop walking.

But it didn't work, Kiya just pushed on- breaking through Hiei's grip and walking past him, muttering a quiet but firm demand. "Do not try to stop her Hiei- the elemental goes to the place that calls to her." The voice belonged to Kiya, but the mind creating the words did not- therefore, Hiei had no remorse for what he was about to do.

He came up behind Kiya, with his katana in hand and into her mind said, _"This is for your own good."_

With that, Hiei sent the hilt of his katana hurtling towards Kiya's head. The two objects collided with a muffled 'thunk' and Kiya's body dropped in a limp heap into Hiei's awaiting arm.

Hiei sheathed his katana with his free hand before using it to pick up Kiya, one hand under her knees and one beneath her back.

It looked to Hiei that there would be no more sleep for him for a while-which was fine with him. If he were to chose between sleep, and the safety of his koi……

……..he would force himself never to sleep again if he had to. Kiya was his main priority.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	25. Chapter 25

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-----------------------------------------------------

Previously:

He came up behind Kiya, with his katana in hand and into her mind said, _"This is for your own good."_

With that, Hiei sent the hilt of his katana hurtling towards Kiya's head. The two objects collided with a muffled _'thunk'_ and Kiya's body dropped in a limp heap into Hiei's awaiting arm.

Hiei sheathed his katana with his free hand before using it to pick up Kiya, one hand under her knees and one beneath her back.

It looked to Hiei that there would be no more sleep for him for a while-which was fine with him. If he were to chose between sleep, and the safety of his koi……

……..he would force himself never to sleep again if he had to. Kiya was his main priority.

--------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 25: Dead Baby Waddling:**

Bands. Bondage……bindings.

All these things came to mind as Kiya finally came to. There were firm bindings on her wrists and ankles, tightly keeping her down. She groaned outloud as she tried to turn onto her side, but the bindings wouldn't let her.

As soon as Kiya felt breathing on her face, she allowed her silver eyes to peep open. There, above her, was Hiei- or that's all she could see, for her eye sight prevented her from seeing anything else. Hiei was leaning over her as Kiya again tried to move.

She asked the first question that came to mind. "What the hell is on my wrists?" _And legs…_

Hiei just stayed silent, as he walked away from the bed to go get something. It was then that Kiya turned her head to look at her wrists and saw…….rope?

"Well, Hiei. I didn't know you were into the kinky stuff.." she joked.

Hiei growled at the immature onna as he walked back to the bed and untied Kiya's bonds. She sat up quickly, rubbing her sore wrists, then looked back at Hiei.

"How did I get here."

"You sleepwalk," came the short reply.

Kiya was about to ask what he meant, but someone answered her un-asked question from the door. "Your elemental side took over your body last night, and wanted to take you to the elementals. It would have succeeded if it weren't for Hiei." It was Kurama, and he was walking into the room. "I'll admit he did use a very……violent way of stopping you, though," Hiei glared at this, and Kiya turned to look at Hiei. Yes……Kiya could remember walking down a corridor, but not ebing able to stop herself. She thought it was just a crazy dream. Then it dawned on her—Hiei had hit her in the head with his katana! She didn't know whether to be thankful or pissed.

She chose to go with thankful, because if she was pissed, then Hiei might get pissed, and that katana might just have a little meeting with her head again, and she didn't want that. Wait, who was she kidding? Hiei wouldn't hurt her!

It was then that Koenma, Yusuke and Kuwabara rushed into the room.

"Kurama told us what happened, Kiya are you alright?"

"I'm fine guys." Kiya sighed. She didn't know why, but right now she really didn't feel like being surrounded by a bunch of people.

_Shower!_ The one word of her reprieve flashed in her mind, and she smiled. "I'm off to take a shower," She turned to look at Hiei and, knowing that he –again- was reading her mind, like he had been a lot lately, she sent him her message. _"No following,"_

Leaving everyone silent and confused, Kiya walked out of the small room and down the hall, stumbling slightly on the way- still dizzy from Hiei's "attack". She eventually made it to the bathroom and closed and locked the door behind her. She walked to the shower, all the way stripping off and discarding her clothes, until she was finally beneath the heavenly current of water.

-------------------WITH THE YYH GANG-------------------

As soon as Kiya had left the room, arguments erupted in the room.

"This is stupid! Those bastards will not get Kiya!" Yelled Yusuke. "Why'd you knock her out, Hiei?"

Hiei didn't even grace the stupid detective with an answer, instead walked out the room to stand guard outside of the bathroom door. So what if Kiya told him not to follow her? He was going to protect her no matter what.

The remaining people left in the room looked briefly at each other before looking to Koenma.

"What's going to happen?" Kuwabara asked.

"I wish I knew." Koenma answered. "But I do know that a portal has been opened from Makai into Rekai. I'm pretty sure it was opened by the elementals, but no one has come through it yet. I need you three to go and close the portal before anyone can come through it."

"Hey, why doesn't shorty need to go?" Whined Kuwabara.

Kurama sighed. "We couldn't get Hiei away from Kiya for anything."

Everyone nodded in agreement and Koenma summoned a portal to Makai. The three Spirit Detectives disappeared within it's open doorway.

-----------------------WITH KIYA---------------------

As much as she hated getting out of the shower, she needed to do it before she turned into a walking raison. And Kiya hated raisons. So, gathering all of her will power, Kiya managed to turn off the heavenly flow of water that beat upon her grateful back and stepped out of the shower. She brushed her hair briefly and pulled on a robe before stepping out into the hallway…..

…….where she was met face-to-face by none other than her koi, Hiei.

"I told you not to follow me," Although inside, she was sort of glad he did.

"Hn." Hiei said before grabbing Kiya's hand and walking with her behind him to her room. Once inside it, Hiei closed and locked the door and turned to look at Kiya, who was staring at her feet.

Kiya, who was deep in thought at this point, managed to say the fire youkai's name softly.

"Hiei?"

"Hai…"

Kiya looked up to him, and in her eyes, Hiei could see distress. "If anything……happens to me…….I want you to know that…….." Kiya's voice broke off as she rushed to Hiei and threw her arms around him, digging her face into the scarf around his neck. She wasn't crying, Hiei knew that- but she was so emotionally exhausted that Hiei knew she had something important to say.

Hiei wrapped his arms tightly around her back, and said, "Finish your sentence…"

It took a while for Kiya to respond, and when she did her voice was hardly above a whisper. "…..that I love you…."

Hiei's eyes widened. Partly because she had said 'I love you,' just like she had the night he left, and because the way she said it made it sound awfully like a good-bye- which told Hiei one thing.

Kiya was afraid. She actually felt that the elementals would find some way to take her away from him and she would never get another chance to speak her mind to him.

That bothered him more than anything else could. She actually doubted his ability to protect her. To keep her safe.

Hiei tightened his hold on the elemental in his arms. His entire world (besides Yukina0 was in his arms right now, spilling her heart to him, and he felt complied to do the same.

"They will not take you from me, koi." _I swear…_

His response took away Kiya's worry like nothing else would. _Koi…._ Love. Hiei loved her….and that made her feel alright again. Taking her face away from it's burrows in Hiei's scarf, she leaned up, her eyes still closed, and met his lips with her own.

_I love you Hiei……I trust you._

When Hiei's Jagan overheard that one thought, he lost it. He kissed back deeply, running his gentle yet impatient tongue against her bottom lip, demanding entrance. Smiling, Kiya granted it and parted her lips for Hiei ever so slightly.

If anyone had ever told Hiei two months ago that he would have changed so much because of one little girl, he would've sliced them with his katana for speaking such nonsense. But now that he was standing here with such a girl, that he had changed so much for, all he could do is relish it. Relish her, relish the moment- for she was everything he denied himself of for so long. Emotion.

----------------WITH YUSUKE---------------

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama had just gotten to the open portal. Nothing seemed to be out of place, Kuwabara wasn't picking up any aura of a demon or elemental nearby……

…….Which was completely confusing.

Was it a fluke in the system? No, it was much worse than that. The little white card on the ground by the portal said so.

Kurama silently picked it up while the others watched him and he read it out loud.

**It was a trap. Thank you for making the retrieval of Kiya easier for us.**

The letter fell from Kurama's hands as he gasped. "Oh no, Kiya!"

------------------BACK TO KIYA------------------

Kiya felt it almost immediately. The change in the room's energies, it was so sudden that neither she nor Hiei had time to react before Hiei began to shudder. Backing away from her mate, Kiya's eyes widened as she saw Hiei's eyes. They were completely black. He coughed, and from his mouth spurted blood.

"HIEI!" Kiya screamed. She didn't know what was going on. All she knew was that something was wrong with her koi. Kiya lunged for Hiei, catching him right before he fell to the ground. She fell with him, with her landing on her knees and Hiei landing on her lap.

It pained her to see Hiei like this- for this had never happened. She had never seen Hiei in a state of weakness before and it stirred something so powerful within her that she wanted to scream.

It stirred fear.

When Hiei's eyes finally shut, Kiya gasped. "Kami, Hiei no….. Hiei wake up…." He was still alive, thank kami. His chest rose and fell unevenly.

"Now, now Kiya. We can't have you crying over someone who couldn't even protect you," came the voice that Kiya hated most from behind her. "Don't worry about him, he's not dead…..yet. Now, if you come with us, Aerosaku will make sure that the Jaganshi lives. We got tired of waiting, Kiya (1)."

-----------------------------A FEW HOURS LATER---------------------------

Hiei woke up yelling.

"KIYA!"

"Hiei, please be calm," came Kurama's distressed voice. Hiei looked around him quickly, trying to remember what had happened.

Kiya…….opened portal………_I love you_……….KIYA! Now he remembered! He was last with Kiya, when suddenly an immense pain had filled his body and he fell to the ground, on top of Kiya. He could hear someone speaking to Kiya before he had gone under.

That person…..who was it?...

"Jasaro…." Hiei growled murderously, his aura flaring.

They had taken Kiya away from him.

He had not been able to keep his promise. (2)

----------------------------------------------------------

(1): The elementals got tired of waiting, sot hey decided to just go and have Kiya come with them. If they used 'persuasion' to have her go with them, it wouldn't be considered 'taking' and her elemental side would still cooperate.

(2) "They will not take you from me, koi." _I swear… _(remember?)

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on truckin'!


	26. Chapter 26

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously:

Hiei woke up yelling.

"KIYA!"

"Hiei, please be calm," came Kurama's distressed voice. Hiei looked around him quickly, trying to remember what had happened.

Kiya……..opened portal………_I love you_……..KIYA! Now he remembered! He was lasr with Kiya, when suddenly an immense pain had filled his body and he fell to the ground, on top of Kiya. He could hear someone talking to her before he had gone under.

That person………who was it?...

"Jasaro…." Hiei growled murderously, his aura flaring.

They had taken Kiya away from him.

Anger. That' the first emotion Hiei felt. Complete and total anger……towards himself.

He had not been able to keep his promise.

----------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 26: Nearly the End:**

Kiya kicked herself. No- more than kicked herself. She beat herself to a bloody pulp, let herself die a most painful death, made herself come back to life, then did it all over again. Figuratively speaking, of course.

Kiya was currently within her own mind, trapped there by Aerosaku's damned staff. Her physical body could not move, but her mind could, roaming over all of her memories and regrets until it was time for Aerosaku to lift this binding from her. The object of her mind's focus right now was- of course- Hiei.

What had happened to him before she had left with the elementals? Would he really be okay, like Jasaro told her he would be? Maybe it was just her, but Kiya didn't feel that that bastard Jasaro was the most trustworthy person in the world.

"_HIEI!"_ Kiya tried to call out mentally again, hoping in vain that by some miracle, Hiei's Jagan eye would pick up on her calls and he would respond, but to no avail. She had been calling to him for 2 hours, ever since she had been condemned within the confinements of her own mind.

Kiya hissed in anger. Aerosaku's staff must have put up a mental wall, keeping her from any psychic contact with anyone.

If Kiya could move her body, her fists would have been balled up by now, she was so mad. Blackmail was the lowest of the low, and even though Kiya had used it herself many times towards Yusuke and Kuwabara, it had never been like this. She had never threatened the life of another's loved one- and was appalled that anyone was capable of anything so cruel. But of course, she **could** believe it in this case because these _were_ the elementals, the same elementals that had managed to make Kiya's life a living hell ever since her 16th birthday. Kiya had had no choice but to leave the palace with them, and come back to their Makai lair with the help of Terra's portal making ability- just so they would keep Hiei alive.

"_Time to wake up, my little bird,"_ Kiya heard the repulsively familiar voice beckon her from outside her mind.

_Yes, and time for you to die an untimely death, bastard,_ Kiya thought maliciously before she was brought from her darkness and her silver eyes were finally able to flitter open.

--------------MEANWHILE WITH THE YYH GANG--------------

Hiei would've been gone by now, if it weren't for that damn toddler. He paced the large office murderously, his fists balled and his voice muttering obscenities beneath his breath. He would have already been in Makai, looking for his mate if only Koenma would shut up about precautions and open a portal.

If it weren't for the fact that Koenma was Hiei's only way to Makai, he would've decapitated him by now- no matter how fast that would place him in the Rekai prison, for Hiei no longer cared about going to prison. He almost past the point where logic would leave him.

"The elementals are very dangerous- maybe even more so than Toguro, so please, be careful."

"Hai Koenma, and I apologize for being hasty, but we really need to be going now." said Kurama politely, referring mostly to Hiei's impatient pacing.

"Yeah," agreed Kuwabara anxiously. He was just as much in a hurry to get Kiya back as everyone- well, nearly everyone- in this room. He leaned down to whisper to Yusuke, "Before Hiei blows this place into pieces."

"Mm hmm." agreed the spirit detective.

Hiei heard them, of course, but right now there were more important things on his mind than beating either of them till there was nothing of them left. Right now, all he wanted was to get his mate back and chop Jasaro and the other elementals into many, many tiny pieces.

"Oh, right," said Koenma hastily, also anxious to get the water elemental back. He created the portal- which materialized into the office with a puff of blue smoke. Before anyone could think, Hiei had flitted through the portal into the awaiting world on the other side. "Be careful," Koenma repeated, then watched as his team of detectives disappeared inside the portal.

Once on the other side, Kurama spotted Hiei re-tying the bandana that covered his Jagan to his forehead. Clearly, he had just used his third eye to find the whereabouts of his mate, because the last time Hiei had checked the elementals had cloaked their location- whereas they had not this time.

"Hiei, please. I know you wish to find Kiya as soon as possible, but if you move as quickly as I know you want to, then Yusuke, Kuwabara and I will not be able to keep up with you."

"Hn. Good. I'd be more efficient on my own." Hiei prepared to take off running West, the direction the Jagan had told him Kiya was. Hiei was not at all surprised that the elementals had taken down their protective mind barriers- clearly they wanted the Spirit Detectives to find them. If Hiei was his normal, observant self than he would've noticed that this whole thing felt sort of like a set-up. A trap.

"Hiei. We want Kiya back as much as you do-"

"No you don't," Hiei snapped, his crimson eyes still directed West. _Not as much as I need her back._

Kurama sighed, then continued, "but we need to stick together. We will not be as effective against the elementals if we are separated."

Hiei knew Kurama was right. Damn the kitsune for being so smart, and as much as Hiei hated to admit it, he knew that Kurama's logic far surpassed his own, especially right now.

So, Hiei growled impatiently and decided to compromise. He started out walking at a little quicker than normal pace, leaving the others behind. He wouldn't run, but he wouldn't wait either.

Kurama sighed. "I suppose this is the most we will get from him. Lets go." He started off after his long-time friend, with Yusuke and Kuwabara following close behind.

And, with Hiei leading the pack, all four started off towards the elementals lair, readying themselves for what they knew was going to be a grueling battle to get their friend back at all costs.

-------------------WITH KIYA------------------

"Ah, she is alive. Good to see."

Instead of gracing Jasaro with any of her words- since Kiya did not see how he was worth any of her breath- she growled murderously at him, giving him a death glare.

"I see you've taken after the Jaganshi. We can take care of that soon. But right now, we've got to get you ready. We're preparing to greet some visitors. Come."

_Psh, yeah right, pretty boy, I'm not following you any-_ Her thoughts were cut off as her body sat up and off the table she was previously lying on obediently. Kiya's silver eyes widened as she tried to figure out what was going on. Why was she following his orders! Why the hell were her legs making her walk?

Jasaro, who seemed to notice the water elementals predicament chuckled evilly and tapped a thin silver headdress that was strapped over Kiya's forehead with his fingernail. "This makes sure that you follow my orders, love. That you don't try anything funny," he turned and began walking- out of the small room they were in and down the hallway. He glanced at her over his shoulder and said, "And so you don't try to communicate with that pesky fire apparition."

"Bast-" She started, but her mouth soon clamped shut, muffling the last syllable of her chosen title for the fire elemental. Again, Jasaro chuckled and said, "It can also keep you from talking out of line."

Kiya found that she could still move her head, so she looked down at herself, wondering why her clothing felt so weird. What she saw made her want to gag. She was wearing a flowing black dress that reached her ankles with a halter top, connecting behind her neck. Over that dress was the familiar red cloak that Kiya saw that Jasaro was wearing. The same cloak that they had sent her in a box not too long ago, the one that she had thrown across the room.

Jasaro was so lucky that he hadn't put her in any heels (or any shoes for that matter- she was bare-footed) or else she would've found a way to get out of this binding headdress and kick his ass. The dress was bad enough.

At the end of the long hallway down which Kiya and Jasaro walked, they came to two large doors. They opened automatically for them and they stepped through into a large room. It was about 1/3 as big as a football field and was bare except for one long black carpet stretched from the large door at the front of the room to the right of where they just came in all the way to the opposite wall, where there were four large chairs. Thrones.

Upon two of the thrones, the ones on the outsides, sat two people. Kiya immediately recognized them as Terra (on the right) and Aerosaku (on the left)- the despised elementals of Air and Earth. Once the two atop the throne's eyes met Kiya's, they smirked.

"Welcome, sister." Boasted Terra, while Aerosaku smirked at her and nodded his head slightly.

_I am not your sister you stupid, green haired, old bi--_

"They are nearly here. You should see the short one, Jasaro….he looks positively murderous." Laughed Aerosaku as he gazed into the clear sphere atop his staff. Kiya hated that staff and wondered who they were talking about, although she had a pretty good idea. Had they really come to get her so quickly? Gosh, she had good friends. Incredibly stupid friends, but good nonetheless.

Kiya could tell already, there was no way that her friends could beat the elementals. No way.

"Kiya, sit." Said Jasaro as he himself sat in the throne next to Aerosaku. He motioned with one tanned hand for Kiya to sit in the one next to him, and thanks to the stupid binding headdress on her, Kiya had no choice but to comply to his wishes. Against her will, Kiya's legs guided her to the throne between Jasaro and Terra and forced her to sit down.

_Aren't the thrones a bit much?_ Stupid elementals, they had to use some fancy chairs as ego boosts.

Kiya's hands went to the arms rests and laid there peacefully, until Jasaro placed his hand upon her own, intertwining their fingers. If anything could boil Kiya's blood, it was this- hands down. How dare he touch her this way! Kiya was able to make a forced grunt as she tried to use her willpower against the bindings so that she could get her hand- and the rest of her for that matter- as far away from Jasaro as possible. But, of course, it didn't work.

Kiya's eyes widened as Jasaro bent down towards Kiya and whispered in her ear, "They'll be here soon, love-" His voice broke off as his red eyes caught sight of the now purple mark on the side of Kiya's neck, partially concealed by the red cloak she was wearing. He nearly busted with anger and tried his hardest not to scream when he said, "He. Marked. You?" The question came out strained and through clenched teeth, his voice low and vicious.

Kiya smirked. _Yep._ She answered in her mind. It was then that Kiya's heightened senses caught on to four very familiar auras nearing. Her smirk faded and a look of worry crossed her features. Her friends were coming. Hiei was coming, her mate. And, no matter how much she believed in them all, there was still this shred of doubt in the back of her mind that when they stormed in here, trying to make this bold and courageous rescue, they might fail.

----------------------------WITH THE YYH GANG--------------------------

"There it is!" Exclaimed Yusuke, pointing an index finger off into the distance, past a number of Makai trees. Kurama and Kuwabara looked to where Yusuke was pointing. Hiei didn't look because he already knew what it was. It was a large, but not huge, ancient looking building. It's roof slanted up into a tent-sort of fashion, the old crimson color beginning to fade. It looked to be only about one story tall, and it had two very large doors in front. Very impressive. Not.

"Come on!" Yusuke yelled before taking off in a full-out dash for the building. Kurama and Kuwabara were right behind him, and Hiei had already flitted to the front door. Once they all gathered at the front door, they looked around suspiciously. Where were all the crazy youkai guards? Every evil villain's lair had some, so why not this one?

Kurama spoke everyone's thoughts when he said, "This seems a bit easy,"

"Hn," Hiei growled. He could care less whether or not it was a trap. As long as he got in and came back out with Kiya in his arms, he didn't care about anything.

Before Hiei could even contemplate how to get the large doors open, they swung ajar, opening to a large room………

………filled with about 50 different youkai scattered into every inch, every corner of the room.

Hiei growled. He didn't have time for this. He un-sheathed his katana in one fluid motion- if he had to do this, he was going to do it quickly, but save enough energy to kill Jasaro. He was determined. So, with that in mind, Hiei impatiently stepped forward to the crowd of multi-colored youkai.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama soon followed Hiei's example, pulling out their weapons of choice. Yusuke pulled out his…fists. Kuwabara made his spirit sword materialize into his hand and Kurama reached up slyly to his hair and pulled out his infamous rose. With one swipe, he turned it into his rose whip and he stepped towards the youkai,

"Let's kick some ass," muttered Yusuke before running into the crowd.

------------------WITH KIYA------------------

From the corner of her eye, Kiya could see Jasaro smirk triumphantly- obviously over the fact that she was marked as Hiei's mate. He then turned to her and said in a low and devious voice, "It's almost time,Kiya. Now, when our guests get here be a good little girl and behave, okay?"

Oh, he was so lucky she couldn't talk, or she'd be ragging on his ass right now. Stupid egotistical b--

That's when she heard it.

Exasperated youkai screams coming from the room directly in front of the room in which Kiya currently sat- she smiled. Hiei was in there, she knew it- kicking ass like he usually did. What Kiya realized next made her stomach clench in pride- and concern.

Hiei wasn't fighting for his self image anymore, not for himself and his desire to be feared.

He was fighting for her.

-----------------------WITH THE YYH GANG-----------------------

None of them had ever seen Hiei fight like this before, never. He wasn't even trying- just flitting through the crowd, decapitating and/or mutilating every youkai within a 10 inch radius.

Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara - who had finally seen that their help in this fight was highly un-needed- were standing back, allowing Hiei to do what he set out to do without having to worry about any of them being in his way.

It was a mere 5 minutes before every low class demon in the large room had been killed, and the stench of blood filled the air. Hiei, who hadn't even broken a sweat, cleared his katana of any blood with one quick swipe of the blade, then sheathed it.

Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara just stood there, watching the gothic-looking fire apparition walk hastily to the second pair of large doors at the far end of the room.

"Hiei…." Kurama started out slowly, knowing Hiei would not like what he was about to say. "Perhaps now we should be a bit more cautious. We do not know what lies behind that door."

"Hn. Be cautious if you like, fox- but cautiousness is something I no longer have time for." And he stood in front of the doors, his fists clenched, as the large doors opened slowly.

------------------------WITH KIYA-----------------------

Kiya's silver eyes immediately averted to the two large doors at the other end of the room as soon as she heard them opening. What she saw sent an immense feeling of relief over her.

It was Hiei, his face and clothing covered in youkai blood, his body seemingly un-wounded. His look was one of complete and utter determination. The Jaganshi's crimson orbs immediately met Kiya's with an open look of concern. His eyes flowed over her body- not in the sensuous way, but in the 'are-you-okay' way. Once seeing that his koi had not been harmed, his gaze traveled upwards again……. And stopped at Kiya's right hand….

….which was currently resting beneath Jasaro's left hand, their fingers intertwining.

Hiei's aura flared dangerously as he glared at Jasaro. ('Glare' being a serious understatement). A dangerous growl escaped his clenched lips and he drew his katana. Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara soon came up behind him and Yusuke and Kuwabara yelled, "Kiya!"

"You bastards!" Yusuke yelled to the elementals.

All four of Kiya's friends looked to her with expectant looks on their faces. 'Why haven't you walked to us, yet?' their looks asked. Hiei's look, on the other hand, was a mix of so many emotions, all the emotions that since Hiei was born, he had been able to conceal. But not now, now his expression-full face was an open book; anger, concern, frustration, fury and possessiveness.

"Why is she holding Jasaro's hand?" Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke. Yusuke shrugged and Kurama answered,

"It seems she has no choice- for it is not her doing the holding." Call it intuition or whatever, but Kurama knew that if Kiya had control over her body, she would have tried to reach them already….

……if, of course, the elementals had not yet managed to sway her opinions of them- which Kurama highly doubted. So, the only option left was control over Kiya's body. Kurama could tell it wasn't quite _mind_ control because of the look of absolute concern in her eyes. Yes, she wasn't an elemental vegetable.. yet.

"Welcome, spirit detectives Yusuke, Kuwabara . Famed Makai thief, Youko Kurama." Jasaro's gaze burned into Hiei's, almost matching his death glare. "Forbidden child- Hiei Jaganshi."

Hiei's eyes narrowed at his despised title and he unsheathed his katana. Hiei's eyes flickered to Kiya's for only a second, before glaring at all of the elementals. "Any last words? And speak wisely- for my patience for you all is gone." He hissed, crouching in a ready-to-attack stance.

The elementals (save Kiya) all chuckled evilly. "Jaganshi, that is not the way you should speak to your future rulers," drawled Terra, her mature voice cracking slightly with age.

"Hn. Not if I have anything to do with it.." By the end of his sentence, Hiei was roaring a battle cry, lunging for Jasaro, his katana ready and poised to strike the fire elementals heart.

But, when Hiei was about 3 feet from Jasaro, he was thrown back by an invisible shield that turned visible once connecting with Hiei. Hiei flew back and landed on his feet, sliding across the floor until he was right back where he started, next to the rest of the Y.Y.H. gang. Kiya allowed herself to breathe once seeing that he had been un-harmed, then wondered why she had even questioned him in the first place- this was Hiei.

Aerosaku made a 'tsk-ing' noise. "Now, Hiei. We wouldn't want to get the palace all dirty by fighting in it, now would we?"

Jasaro finished where the air elemental left off. "If you'd like to fight, we'll have to go outside."

"So sorry for the inconvenience." Apologized Terra, lying.

"There's no inconvenience as long as we get to kick your asses." yelled Yusuke.

"Yusuke, I doubt now is the time for your crude remarks," Kurama leaned in to his ear and whispered, "No matter what they do, we must remember that they have Kiya- so we mustn't anger them too much."

Yusuke would've argued, but his concern for Kiya helped him keep his usually rambunctious mouth shut.

"Then let us go 'outside'!" said Aerosaku, standing. Before anyone could do anything, Aerosaku raised both of his hands in the air, one of them grasping his staff. The crystal ball upon the staff glowed brightly and everyone in the room was suddenly blinded by the same incredibly bright white light. Everyone closed their eyes to shield them from the light.

When her eyes opened, Kiya saw that she, along with everyone else was no longer inside, but outside right next to the large elemental lair- in a large open clearing.

Kiya suddenly felt a presence trying it's hardest to probe into her mind, but was being held back by the silver headdress strapped to her forehead. _Hiei……_

"**Something is blocking her mind.." **Kiya heard the all too familiar voice of her mate speak hastily and frustrated. Her eyes went straight to him to see that he was looking at her, his lips not moving.

"**I see, it must be the headdress she is wearing. It seems as though it is a mind barrier…."** came Kurama's voice in the air. Kiya's eyes quickly averted to Kurama, to see that his lips weren't moving either.

_That's right! I can hear telepathic conversations! I almost forgot!_

Kiya heard Hiei growl out-loud and she finally took the time to notice where the other elementals were. They were standing right next to Kiya, all of them rooted to their spots and standing straight- truly looking like royalty.

_All this trouble over me? _Kiya questioned herself. _I'm not worth all of this. I'm not…_

_They think otherwise.._ argued her other voice- the same voice that had always managed to annoy the hell out of Kiya in the past, but lately it had been more comfort to Kiya than it could've known.

_I know- that's the problem. I don't want anyone to get hurt………..I should've killed myself when I had the chance._

_Please don't think like that._

_How can I not think like that at a time like this? There's no way that my friends can win this fight! They will all die, including the one person who means the world to me. He will die all because of who I am- what I was born as! It's not fair!_

_Hasn't anyone told you?……..life's not fair._

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**Alright, everybody. Intermission. Get up off your asses, go get something to eat/drink, stretch, do some exercises, watch TV, listen to music……then come back and read the other portion to this incredibly long chapter.**

**Whew, I think _I_ need an intermission. I'll be right back.**

**Okay, back to the story. Enjoy, my little birdies. **

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Kiya watched in wonder as Hiei got into his famed fighting stance, his unsheathed katana poised in front of him, ready to attack unmercifully. The rest of the YYH gang followed his example.

Jasaro sighed with annoyance. "Such a shame, Jaganshi. I was hoping you would pose more of a threat, considering all the things I've heard about you." The elementals chuckled and Kiya narrowed her eyes at him. Even though the stupid headband on her forehead kept her body from moving, Kiya could still move her head- just not talk.

"Hn. I told you to speak wisely. Apparently you don't listen." Without warning, Hiei flitted out of view, and Kiya turned her head to look at the elementals. She was surprised to see that they were finally showing emotion and they looked a little uneasy by her mate's speed.

Hiei suddenly appeared behind Jasaro and was about to bring his feared katana down on his head, when a wall of fire formed behind the seemingly unobservant elemental, blocking Hiei's attack. Hiei flitted away once more to go to Kiya's side.

"It seems that I have underestimated your speed, Jaganshi." Jasaro growled once seeing that Hiei had appeared next to 'his' woman. "I won't do it again."

Kiya didn't hear Jasaro, she was too busy trying to communicate with Hiei, but no words would come out. She saw his frustrated look as his Jagan eye glowed from beneath his bandana and she knew that he was trying to contact her mentally. Damn the stupid headband on her forehead, damn it to hell.

"There wont be any of that, Hiei," drawled Terra. "You can no longer mentally speak with your _koi_."

Kiya could see Jasaro's open hatred for what Terra had said, but she didn't care.

"Let us stop wasting time. I call the kitsune." Said Aerosaku.

"So be it." replied Kurama as he gracefully retrieved his infamous rose from behind his ear.

"I'll take the ningens." purred Terra.

"Alright! We'll kick your ass in no time!"

"Uh--Urameshi…..I cant fight a girl."

"To hell with your stupid code, Kuwabara, this is for Kiya."

Kuwabara sighed, took one look at his beloved friend, and said, "I guess you're right."

"And I- the Jaganshi." Stated Jasaro.

"Hn."

Before Kiya could blink, they all attacked. Kurama slashed at Aerosaku with his whip- who in turn just stepped to the side, looking like he was bored. Kuwabara and Yusuke both ran to Terra, getting their fists up. But, Kiya saw Terra's eyes glow green momentarily before a large chunk of Earth rose in front of her, blocking them both.

Kiya turned her attentions to Hiei and Jasaro, just in time to see Hiei flitter out of sight, and Jasaro's eyes flash a dangerous red. A wall of fire suddenly appeared around Jasaro, and the elemental smirked evilly. Just as soon as Hiei disappeared, he re-appeared in front of Jasaro (standing in the wall of fire) and with one quick swipe, sent his katana plunging into Jasaro's chest.

The wall of fire suddenly dissipated, as Jasaro looked wide-eyed at Hiei then the katana within his abdomen.

"Hn. You're pathetic fire _tricks _do not harm me." Hiei stated slyly.

Jasaro suddenly smirked, and Kiya watched in dreadful awe as the katana lodged in Jasaro suddenly burst into flames, and quickly disappeared within the inferno. Hiei looked just as shocked for about a second, then quickly re-gained his composure.

"Nice try Jaganshi….but not good enough…" Before Hiei could react, Jasaro quickly sent a roundhouse kick to his head- but Hiei, bring his normal quick self and seeing his plan- easily dodged it…

……but what Hiei didn't see was the power-charged fist going straight for his gut.

Kiya gasped in her mind as she saw Hiei flying across the large field.

_Please, Hiei. Just give up before you get hurt….._

---------------------------3 HOURS LATER---------------------------

Kiya's eyes were pinned open- refusing to close, no matter how much she wanted them to….

…which was a lot.

There, in front of Kiya's un-moving form was the YYH gang, sprawled, bloody and unconscious on the ground. Standing above them were the elementals, all smirking triumphantly……just like in Kiya's dreams.

Wait, no- excuse me. Kiya's nightmares.

_No……..kami sama please no……_

But, even Kami- sama could take back what just happened. For the past three hours, the poor water elemental had no choice but to watch as her friends and her mate were all taken out by the other elementals, to the point of unconsciousness. Kiya was so overcome with worry, that she didn't even notice the binding hold over her body coming from the headdress on her forehead dissipating, and her ability to move and speak freely returning. What she did notice was Jasaro walking towards her once telling Aerosaku to keep an eye on the Jaganshi. Kiya's gaze snapped to Hiei's limp form, lying on his stomach and facing Kiya.

_Wait……why would he need to keep an eye on Hiei if he's unconscious?_ It suddenly occurred to Kiya that maybe- just maybe- Hiei was still awake. _'Hiei?'_

"_K-Kiya….."_

'_Oh my god, Hiei! Are you okay? Please just stay awake-_

"_I'm………..sorry Kiya…."_

'_Why are you sorry, koi? You have nothing to apologize for.'_

"_I didn't keep my promise---I couldn't protect you…"_ Kiya could hear Hiei's voice slowly begin to fade.

'_Damnit, Hiei stop being stupid, you did protect me…..don't leave me again…….please, just stay awake'._

"_I'm……trying.."_ Hiei's attempts to stay conscious were obviously in vain because Kiya felt Hiei's mind suddenly slip from her own, becoming nothing but a memory. Never would Kiya had thought that she would ever hear Hiei apologize to anyone.

"Kiya," came Jasaro's voice from in front of her.

Kiya quickly ripped her gaze from Hiei to glare at Jasaro. "You bastard.." Kiya was surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth, since for the last 3 hours she had been declared a mute.

Jasaro chuckled. "Yes, I do suppose that you must despise me….for now. But I do have one thing for you to do."

"Go to hell."

Jasaro's eyebrows suddenly furrowed and his lips went into a frustrated straight line. "Listen closely, for I will not repeat myself. My patience for you and your mouth is slowly fading and we have a ritual to perform," before Kiya could interject, Jasaro continued with one hell of a threat. "If you do not perform this rite willingly and be a good little girl." Jasaro placed his fingertips underneath Kiya's chin, but she smacked his hand away, "then I will have Aerosaku kill your mate. Plain and simple."

Kiya's silver eyes widened and she looked to Aerosaku, who was holding the end of his staff mere inches from the unconscious Hiei's neck. Kiya's eyes then moved to Hiei's still face, which had a look of frustration and strain on it- as if, even in unconsciousness, he was still trying to keep her from helping them- from going to the elementals.

"Decide quickly, we do not have much time left to waste on you. Perform this ritual or have your friends and _mate_ murdered." He hissed.

Kiya took a quick sweeping look to all of her friends. Kurama was up against a tree, his head hanging limply against his chest, blood seeping down his revealed chest and into the ground, his rose lying uselessly by his limp hand.

Yusuke was lying on his back right next to Terra, along with Kuwabara. Both of them looked to be unharmed-- save for the large gashes on both of their heads, with blood seeping form them and their mouths.

Hiei, with his cloak discarded about 5 feet from Kiya, was lying on his stomach, with one hand seemingly outstretched to Kiya. Blood ran freely from open wounds on his head, chest and arms.

"Do this ritual and we will make sure that they all survive." finalized Jasaro.

Now Kiya's mind was made up. If the elementals could save her friends like they said they could (which she was skeptical about because they weren't the most truthful of people) then she had no question in her mind about what she was going to do. She just hoped that for once, the elementals weren't lying.

With one last look at her beloved mate, Kiya turned to Jasaro and stated, "Fine."

--------------------------------------------------------------

-Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	27. Chapter 27

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Previously:

Kiya took a quick sweeping look to all of her friends. Kurama was up against a tree, his head hanging limply against his chest, blood seeping down his revealed chest and into the ground, his rose lying uselessly by his limp hand.

Yusuke was lying on his back right next to Terra, along with Kuwabara. Both of them looked to be unharmed-- save for the large gashes on both of their heads, with blood seeping form them and their mouths.

Hiei, with his cloak discarded about 5 feet from Kiya, was lying on his stomach, with one hand seemingly outstretched to Kiya. Blood ran freely from open wounds on his head, chest and arms.

"Do this ritual and we will make sure that they all survive." finalized Jasaro.

Now Kiya's mind was made up. If the elementals could save her friends like they said they could (which she was skeptical about because they weren't the most truthful of people) then she had no question in her mind about what she was going to do. She just hoped that for once, the elementals weren't lying.

With one last look at her beloved mate, Kiya turned to Jasaro and stated, "Fine."

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**Chapter 27: The End?**

**Kiya's POV**

I had no choice. No choice whatsoever. If I wanted my friends to live, then I had to say yes- that's it.

What would you have done?...wait, that's not a fair question. You have never been in the same situation as me, nor will you ever- therefore you have no idea where I'm coming from.

Just to let you in- it's hell.

I said fine to that bastard- because those four people, especially Hiei mean more to me than anything else has in my entire life. I can only hope that when this incredibly horrible crime I'm about to commit, that they'll all be okay…..

…..and not hate me too much.

Jasaro chuckled evilly, his lips curling upward enough to barely show his white teeth. "I'm glad you've finally decided to stop being such a pest. Aerosaku, set up the sacred circle. Terra- retrieve the sphere."

While watching Jasaro with disgust as he walked about 10 feet away from me to my right, then turned to face me, I began to wonder if Jasaro was the head of this 'operation'- I mean, he did order the other two around a lot. Then I wondered why the hell I cared because I- in the end- hated them all.

I turned my attentions to Aerosaku and Terra- who had moved into positions, both 10 feet away from me, Terra on my left and Aerosaku in front of me. I noticed that we formed a circle. Aerosaku raised his arms into the air, his staff momentarily gone, and began muttering incoherently while he closed his eyes. Almost immediately, I felt the wind around me begin to pick up, spinning my blue hair around my head. I wanted nothing more than to obliterate every last one of these filthy elementals, but pictures of my friend's and mate's unconscious bodies popped into my head and the desire to murder the three elementals nearly disappeared.

Nearly.

I stood still as I felt the wind suddenly stop, as soon as it began. I looked around me to see that surrounding both myself and the three elementals was a transparent dome, solid enough to see, but looking as though it were made of glass. But I knew better, Aerosaku had made it from his element, wind. This dome kept everything out….

…..as well as everything in.

My gaze soon shifted to Terra as I saw her hands begin to move in circular motions around what it seemed like nothing. As her hands twisted in the hypnotic pattern, I could feel the Earth beneath me begin to move. I watched in wonder as the ground in front of Terra literally sipped open, and out of the hole floated a large crystal sphere.

Immediately, I felt my transformation coming- and I could tell the transformation for the others was coming as well. Whatever was going on with our bodies, I had a feeling that weird orb was causing it. I kept my eyes on the orb as it rose about 5 feet above me, in the middle of our large circle, then began spinning slowly on it's axle.

"This is it…" cooed Terra, her brown eyes filled with anticipation.

"Yes it is." Replied Aerosaku, determination and anxiety filled his expression.

"Ready Kiya?" asked Jasaro, keeping his eyes on the spinning sphere.

Kiya didn't even grace him with an answer, instead she just widened her silver eyes as she realized that she, and the other elementals were slowly rising off the ground. Then- quicker than it had ever happened- Kiya transformed. Her long blue hair grew to below her hips- silver streaks now running freely through it. Kiya glanced down at her arms to see that they were covered in the usual waving blue and silver lines. With one more burst of energy, Kiya could feel her elemental side become more in tune with her normal self, and the energy sent out by the change rippled out of her body, ripping through a silver chain around her neck. Kiya watched helplessly as the beloved tear- shaped opal necklace her parents had left for her went flying away from her body- hit the transparent wall then bounced to the ground. Kiya had no time to worry about it though, because from the corner of her eye, she saw that the other elementals had transformed.

Aerosaku looked very…….smooth. His long silver hair was exactly the same, but it was the rest of his body that caught Kiya's attention. His skin was a pasty white/ silver and his long silver nails extruded from behind his long sleeves. His eyes- the iris, pupil, everything was white.

Terra's skin was green- that's the first thing Kiya noticed. Her skin was green and her eyes were totally brown. From behind her even longer green hair, Kiya could see two long elf- shaped ears poking out of the long locks.

Jasaro's true form was the most eye-catching. His short and spiky red hair was no more. Now, it was a very odd style, the front had grown to the point where it pooled around his face, framing it perfectly, while the back was still short and spiked. His eyes- I noticed- were the opposite of what they normally were. Where there should've been white surrounding the iris, it was red and the iris and pupil were white.

All at the same time, I- along with the other three- all put our arms up in a cross-type fashion. I was moving by instinct now, and it felt as though I knew what needed to be done. It seemed as though with this transformation came a new mind- filled with the knowledge of a long time elemental.

"This ritual of dominance we perform, to gain control of the three worlds…." Jasaro started, and although I didn't want them to, the words filled a long time hole in me. It was as if I had been waiting an entire lifetime to hear these words, when in actuality- I couldn't despise them more.

Aerosaku continued where Jasaro left off. ".. By the power of 4 we unite, we- the elementals- perform this rite…."

"…Fire, Water, Earth and Wind, each element old as sin.." Terra said, her voice flowing through the air like a soft melody with a hard edge to it.

I knew that I was next to speak, and was surprised to find that in knew the words that I was supposed to say. "…We are the source, we are the mends- the worlds shall be ours until our ends." I knew that by speaking these words, I was sealing both mine and the rest of the world's fate- but the fact that it was either do this or have my friends die made me not care.

Jasaro continued again. "…The power of fire, energies of the South- with thee I seal this rite, so mote it be..."

It was Aerosaku's turn again. "..The power of wind, the energies of the East, with thee I seal this rite, so mote it be…"

Terra. "The poer of Earth, energies of the North, with thee I seal this rite, so mote it be…"

This was it. The line that was to determine my fate. Do I dare say it, and condemn myself to an eternity of hell? I took one more look through the clear dome surrounding me to look at my Hiei- my koi. Did I dare say this line- to save him?

Did I really need to ask?

"The power of Water, energies of the West, with thee I seal this rite," I smiled, knowing that by giving up my life, my friends and mate would be spared- if the elementals were telling the truth. "…so mote it be."

All the energy suddenly escaped my body from my mouth as I muttered the last four words…

…..and blacked out.

-------------------------------------------------------

Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


	28. epilogue

Water and Fire

Summary: There are only four elementals that walk the three worlds. Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. United, they could rule the world. When the YYH gang finds the elemental of Water, they must keep her hidden, so that a horribly powerful prophecy does not become a reality. But what will the other elementals do when they find out that she is being kept from them? Will she and a certain fire apparition become closer than they should be? Read to find out. RATED T FOR LANGUAGE!

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EPILOGUE TO WATER AND FIRE!

(Remember that Kiya passed out at the end of the last chapter before anything happened.)

Well, it turns out that the energy Kiya used up to perform the ritual drained her, so she passed out. The other elementals- however- knew that was going to happen and were able to save some of their energy. Once Kiya had passed out- she missed quite an amazing show…….(that's all I will say on this subject until the sequel comes out.) ( I know, I suck)

Okay- that's it for the epilogue (it's all I could write without giving anything away)

But……

…..Will the elementals really keep their promise to keep Kiya's friends alive?

…..What will Kiya do when she wakes up and finds that all the recent events were not a dream, like she had hoped?

……Where's Hiei? ( ooh, HINT HINT)

Oooh, that should keep you all pondering until next week when the sequel to Water and Fire comes out. I know, lame epilogue, but you all have no idea how hard it was to write even THAT much without letting any important information slip.

Oh, and I need help.

I need to know if you would all like a third part to this series, or if I should end it at the end of the sequel. Now, before you all say, "THERE'D BETTER BE A THIRD PART," I would like to remind you of how awfully clichéd it would be if everything ended up perfectly in the sequel and Kiya was able to live with Hiei forever and be happy. Now, with that in mind, what should I do? If you feel like you need to wait until the sequel starts off to make your decision, then please do so.

Why am I asking my readers for advice on my story? Because I write this for my readers (you) and what makes you happy is what I want to write. Simple as that.

THANK YOU IMMENSLY TO EVERYONE WHO STAYED WITH ME AND MY STORY FROM THE BEGINNING, ALWAYS GIVING ME THEIR UNDYING SUPPORT! I LOVE YOU ALL! (In a sisterly way, of course)

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I know what will make everyone feel better!

_**Bloopers!**_

Chapter 1 bloopers:

(Kiya gets ready to throw a pencil at Yusuke) (Director me tells them to begin the scene) (Kiya throws the pencil, but it hits the far wall instead of Yusuke)

Kendra: (sigh) Cut! Kiya, that's the 65th time today- we're wasting film.

Yusuke: Damnit Kiya, I'm over here!

Kiya: (Is embarrassed) You'd think I'd be able to hit a head that big…….my aim really sucks…

(Pencil ricochets off the wall and flies back to hit Kuwabara in the eye.)

Kuwabara: AHH!

Kendra: We've got a pencil in the eye! I need the paramedics, ASAP….(looks at Kuwabara rolling on the floor trying to get the pencil out of his eye) On second thought….let's leave it in there for a minute…this is funny….

----Chapter 12 bloopers

_Everyone in the room woke up to an alarm sounding VERY loudly, but it wasn't coming from Kiya's apartment. Kiya woke up in a flash, almost falling off the windowsill. She quickly regained her balance and sprinted to her door, calling back to the others, "Come on, they'll be waking up soon." Before disappearing out her apartment door and going across the hallway to Yusuke's apartment. The others soon got up and followed, even Kurama, anxious to see what was going to happen. When Kiya opened the door, the all snuck in and hid behind the counter in the kitchen, but still looking over the side. Hiei even flitted into the room and stood in the corner, arms crossed and an emotionless gaze sticking to the two figures still sleeping, despite the loud alarm coming from Yusuke's microwave._

_Kuwabara finally woke up and looked with a furrowed brow at the figure under his arm, the figure that he was spooning that was wearing a light blue kimono and had turqiouse hair._

_Kuwabara's eyes immediately lit up. "Yukina, my love! What a surprise!" He hugged 'Yukina' harder, not even noticing that 'Yukina' was bigger built and taller than usual._

"…_The hell?" came the masculine voice of 'Yukina' that was currently facing away from Kuwabara. (A/N 'Yukina' was facing the opposite direction of Kuwabara, so that he couldn't see 'her' face.)_

"_Yukina?" Kuwabara asked 'her'._

'_Yukina' turned around and looked at Kuwabara. "URAMESHI!"_

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke squeals in a high pitched tone and wraps his arms around Kuwabara, digging his face in his chest and sighing contently.

(Kuwabara looks horrified while everyone off set looks at the script)

Kendra: What the hell is he doing?

Kurama: I'm not sure….

Kendra: Cut! Yusuke—what are you doing? That isn't in the script!

Yusuke: (stands up) Yeah it is!

Kendra: (looks through script once more) Since when?

Yusuke: Since Kiya gave me the re-written script this morning…!

(Everyone looks to Kiya to see her smirking in the back. When she sees everyone looking at her, the smirk disappears)

Kiya: Heh…………

Kendra: God damnit Kiya!

Kiya: Aw, c'mon. You gotta admit that was funny!...Besides, Kuwabara liked it.

Kuwabara: WHAT?

Kiya: Don't even try to deny it, bub.

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Deleted Scene #3 Bloopers (This is the beginning of a scene I was going to write, but decided not to. everything in normal print was NOT going to be in the story at all)

_Yusuke gets done talking to Genkai and goes back to his room. When he opens the door, he sees Kiya sifting through his dresser drawers._

"_What the hell are you doing in here?"_

(Kiya smirks and pulls something purple and velvety out of his drawer) Kiya: Gee, Yusuke- didn't know you like these things. I would've thought someone like you would've found them to be uncomfortable.

Kendra and off set crew: (squints and tries to see what Kiya's holding.) This is not in the damn script……….(Kendra gasps) Is that a……….THONG!

Kuwabara and Kendra screech: Holy Shit! Urameshi's got a thong!

Kiya: Do you mind if I borrow this? ( she jokes, then laughs)

Hiei: (eyes twitching and he has a sweat drop)

Yusuke: (Tackles Kiya to the ground, trying to get the ….ahem….garment.)

Kiya: ACK! Get off of me! I'm sorry, Jesus!

Hiei: Not yet you aren't…(Pulls something out of her pocket)(Sits up next to Kiya and hold the picture triumphantly.)

Kiya: Yusuke…..not the picture…please. Anything but the picture…

Kendra: (jumps off her director's chair and walks on set, taking the picture from Yusuke, who gets off of the floor and while no one's looking, takes back his thong that Kiya dropped on the ground.)

Kendra: woah……..just…..woah……….(looks to Kiya) you are so weird….

Kuwabara: What? I wanna see!

Koenma: Me too!

Kendra: (shows the picture to everybody)

Picture: A small blue haired girl is sitting one the floor, making out with a teddy bear with a sticker name tag saying "Hiei"

Kuwabara: (Coughs)……

Silence……….

Kurama: If I were you Hiei…I'd be slightly disturbed by this picture……

More silence……………………

Kendra: …..So……Whose up for lunch?...

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Kendra a.k.a. Blazin' Blondie

Keep on Truckin'!


End file.
